Federal judge orders UCLA to develop anti-discrimination plan to protect Jewish students

A federal judge recently ordered the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to draft a plan for protecting its Jewish students from campus anti-Semitism.

In a directive containing the order, District Judge Mark Scarsi allowed the school significant leeway in writing the exact terms of the plan while also calling for a robust framework that enables Jewish students to exercise their rights to free expression to the same extent that their peers do without fear of repercussions.

[RELATED: University of California spent $29 million responding to anti-Israel protests]

“Meet and confer to see if you can come up with some agreeable stipulated injunction or some other court order that would give both UCLA the flexibility it needs ... but also provide Jewish students on campus some reassurance that their free exercise rights are not going to play second fiddle to anything else,” Scarsi said.

Three Jewish students at UCLA filed a lawsuit against the institution in June, alleging that the school had neglected to adequately respond to rampant campus anti-Semitism. Yitzchok Frankel, a student at UCLA Law, said that he had declined an opportunity to volunteer at a student-led lunch event for fear of being persecuted for his Jewish identity.

“Under ordinary circumstances, I would have leapt at the chance to participate in this event,” he noted. “My Jewish identity and religion are integral to who I am, and I believe it is important to mentor incoming students and encourage them to be proud of their Judaism, too.”

The federal ruling comes in the wake of several disruptive, violent protests at UCLA during the spring semester, during which law enforcement made over two hundred arrests as they clashed with protesters and counterprotesters alike.

[RELATED: UCLA admits it put up barriers to ‘reinforce’ anti-Israel camp, legal group claims]

One student, identified by the Daily Bruin as “Student A,” expressed a degree of disbelief in relation to UCLA’s apparent reluctance to call the local police department to come and de-escalate protests.

“At first, I could understand why there weren’t police officers immediately,” the student said. “But an hour in, and then two hours in, and then three hours in, it just reached the point where I was like, ‘UCLA knows this is happening, and they don’t care enough to protect their students.’”

Campus Reform has reached out to UCLA and University of California system President Michael Drake for comment. This story will be updated accordingly.