UCLA on Thursday rejected a federal government order barring Jewish students from campus areas occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters, calling the decision by U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi “inadmissible.”
“UCLA is committed to fostering a campus culture where everyone feels welcome and free from intimidation, discrimination and harassment,” Mary Osako, UCLA’s vice chancellor for strategic communications, said in a statement. “The district court’s ruling is inappropriate and would limit our ability to respond to events on the ground and meet the needs of the Bruin community. We are closely reviewing the judge’s ruling and considering all of our options moving forward.”
In late April, pro-Palestinian protesters set up camp on UCLA’s central Royce Quad. The entrances to the camp were guarded, and passersby were only allowed in if they wore a wristband indicating their support for Palestine.
The lawsuit comes from three Jewish UCLA students – Yitzchok Frankel, Joshua Ghayoum and Eden Shemuelian – who say they faced religious discrimination because they are religiously obligated to support the Jewish state of Israel. Because of the Royce Quad’s location, the exclusionary encampment made it difficult for students who supported Israel to get to class.
UCLA stressed that while it acknowledges that these students face religious discrimination, it has “no responsibility” to protect the religious freedom of its Jewish students against third-party protesters.
After failed negotiations between the two parties, Scarsi issued a court order on the case on Tuesday. In his ruling, he repeatedly wrote: “Jewish students were excluded from parts of the UCLA campus because they refused to renounce their faith” and called what had happened “so unimaginable and so abhorrent.”
As part of his decision, Scarsi ordered that UCLA is prohibited from offering “normally available programs, activities or campus areas to students” if those activities or areas are not “fully and equitably accessible to Jewish students.” UCLA is also prohibited from “knowingly permitting or facilitating the exclusion of Jewish students.” By Thursday, UCLA must inform its Student Affairs Mitigator/Monitor as well as all campus security teams that they may not deny Jewish students access to regularly available activities, programs or locations.
Under the definition of this court ruling, the exclusion of Jewish students also applies to the exclusion of students “based on religious beliefs related to the Jewish State of Israel.” The ruling also does not prevent UCLA from expelling Jewish students who violate the university’s code of conduct.
The post “UCLA pushes back against federal order protecting Jewish students’ campus access after pro-Palestinian protests, calling decision ‘illegal’” appeared first on TheWrap.
