This post was updated Aug. 3 at 9:13 p.m.

The UC announced Tuesday it will pay $6.45 million to settle a lawsuit brought by three Jewish UCLA students and a professor who alleged they faced antisemitism during the Palestine solidarity encampment in the spring of last year.

The terms of the settlement require the UC to pay the plaintiffs a total of $200,000 and provide organizations that “combat antisemitism” with $2.33 million. The organizations include Hillel at UCLA, the Academic Engagement Network, the Jewish Federation Los Angeles’ Campus Impact Network and the Anti-Defamation League – an organization that lobbies for Israel and seeks to combat antisemitism.

UCLA’s Initiative to Combat Antisemitism – an initiative launched by Chancellor Julio Frenk in March – will also receive $320,000.

[Related: Chancellor Julio Frenk announces plan for new Initiative to Combat Antisemitism]

Daniel Gold, the executive director of Hillel at UCLA, called the settlement an “important and meaningful step forward” in addressing antisemitism at UCLA.

“There is still much more work to be done to build a safer, more welcoming, and more supportive campus that is free from antisemitic harassment and intimidation,” he said in the statement. “The settlement’s resources for Hillel and other Jewish organizations will support our efforts to make UCLA a great environment for Jewish Bruins, and all Bruins.”

The remaining $3.6 million will go toward legal fees and costs.

“The injunction and other terms UCLA has agreed to demonstrate real progress in the fight against antisemitism,” the parties said in a joint statement.

All four plaintiffs alleged in the suit that UCLA allowed pro-Palestine protesters to create a “Jew Exclusion Zone” in areas in and surrounding the encampment, calling UCLA a “hotbed of antisemitism” with a “rampant anti-Jewish environment.” 

A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction in the case in August 2024, ruling that UCLA cannot allow pro-Palestine protesters to obstruct the access of Jewish students on campus. 

[Related: Court rules pro-Palestine protests cannot obstruct Jewish students’ accessibility] 

Pro-Palestine protesters set up an encampment in Dickson Plaza in April 2024 to demand that the UC divest from companies associated with the Israeli military. The encampment resulted in UCLA temporarily closing Royce Hall and Powell Library, two buildings that neighbored the encampment – an area that the plaintiffs claimed in the suit they were not allowed to enter because of their religion.

However, Faculty for Justice in Palestine at UCLA alleged in an amicus brief opposing the plaintiffs’ original request for an injunction that the encampment was not antisemitic – citing the fact that Jewish people were a part of the encampment and that protesters took part in Jewish celebrations, including a Shabbat and a Seder. 

Counter-protesters attacked the encampment on the night of April 30 and into the early morning of May 1, with police failing to intervene until over two hours after the violence began. Police then swept the encampment May 2, arresting over 200 protesters.

The defendants in the settlement include UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk, who began his tenure in January, and UC President Michael Drake, who will step down Thursday. 

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a statement of interest in the case March 17, alleging that UCLA enabled an antisemitic campus environment and attempted to “evade liability” for doing so. DOJ attorneys said by allegedly allowing for the exclusion of Jewish students until police swept the encampment May 2, UCLA violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 – which prevents any institution receiving federal funding from discriminating on the basis of race, color or national origin – the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and California state law.

[Related: DOJ files statement of interest supporting plaintiffs in UCLA antisemitism lawsuit]

Leo Terrell, the head of the Trump administration’s Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, said in a May interview on Fox News that the UC should expect discrimination lawsuits and hate crime charges for antisemitism.

[Related: Federal official claims Trump administration intends to sue UC for discrimination]

The UC Office of the President claimed in a fact sheet that the UC has previously combatted antisemitism by opposing calls for – and imposing bans on – boycotts of Israel. Drake sent a letter to campus chancellors July 2 prohibiting student governments and other University entities from boycotting any country – including Israel. 

[Related: Student governments across UC campuses banned from anti-Israel boycotts]

UCLA also must abide by an injunction – which will be in effect for 15 years – that prohibits the university from allowing or facilitating the exclusion of “Jewish students, faculty, and/or staff from ordinarily available portions of UCLA’s programs, activities, and/or campus areas,” according to the settlement.

The deal includes a specific provision prohibiting exclusion of Jewish community members on the basis of “religious beliefs concerning the Jewish state of Israel.” 

“Antisemitism, harassment, and other forms of intimidation are antithetical to our values and have no place at the University of California,” UC Board of Regents Chair Janet Reilly said in a statement. “We have been clear about where we have fallen short, and we are committed to doing better moving forward. Today’s settlement reflects a critically important goal that we share with the plaintiffs: to foster a safe, secure and inclusive environment for all members of our community and ensure that there is no room for antisemitism anywhere on campus.”

Contributing reports from Alexandra Crosnoe, News editor.