update deskSchools & Higher Education

Jewish students, blocked from UCLA campus, file suit against school

Mark Rienzi, president and CEO of the nonprofit Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, said school administrators demonstrated “a profound and illegal failure of leadership.”

The University of California, Los Angeles. Credit: Michael Gordon/Shutterstock.
The University of California, Los Angeles. Credit: Michael Gordon/Shutterstock.

The University of California, Los Angeles allegedly allowed pro-Hamas protesters to prevent Jewish students from entering campus this spring, according to a lawsuit.

On Wednesday, three Jewish students—Yitzchok Frankel, Joshua Ghayoum and Eden Shemuelian—filed suit against their school, charging that UCLA had “deteriorated into a hotbed of antisemitism.”

In Frankel v. Regents of the University of California, the students state that “on April 25, 2024, and continuing until May 2, 2024, UCLA allowed a group of activists to set up barricades in the center of campus and establish an encampment that blocked access to critical educational infrastructure on campus.”

The nonprofit Becket Fund for Religious Liberty represents the students.

“If masked agitators had excluded any other marginalized group at UCLA, Governor Newsom rightly would have sent in the National Guard immediately,” said Mark Rienzi, president and CEO of Becket. “But UCLA instead caved to the antisemitic activists and allowed its Jewish students to be segregated from the heart of their own campus. That is a profound and illegal failure of leadership.”

You have read 3 articles this month.
Register to receive full access to JNS.

Just before you scroll on...

Israel is at war. JNS is combating the stream of misinformation on Israel with real, honest and factual reporting. In order to deliver this in-depth, unbiased coverage of Israel and the Jewish world, we rely on readers like you. The support you provide allows our journalists to deliver the truth, free from bias and hidden agendas. Can we count on your support? Every contribution, big or small, helps JNS.org remain a trusted source of news you can rely on.

Become a part of our mission by donating today
Topics
Comments
Thank you. You are a loyal JNS Reader.
You have read more than 10 articles this month.
Please register for full access to continue reading and post comments.
Never miss a thing
Get the best stories faster with JNS breaking news updates