UC Berkeley agrees to $1 million settlement over lawsuit accusing campus of ‘Jewish-free zones’

The University of California, Berkeley, will pay $1 million in attorneys’ fees to resolve an antisemitism lawsuit over campus organizations accused of creating “Jewish-free zones” by boycotting supporters of Israel.

The university agreed to scrap bylaws passed by student groups that exclude participation based on an individual’s “Zionism,” clarifying that bans on “Zionists” have historically been used as a “pretext for excluding Jews,” according to the settlement released Thursday by the Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law.

Brandeis Chairman Kenneth Marcus flagged the phenomenon in October 2022 – a year before the horrific Hamas attack on Israeli civilians – after nine student organizations at the UC Berkeley School of Law amended their bylaws to block speakers who champion Israel or Zionism.

The center filed the federal lawsuit in November 2023 as the practice spread to more than 20 groups, including academic journals and clinical programs.

Meanwhile, university officials defended the measures, arguing that forbidding such bans would constitute viewpoint discrimination.

“As a UC Berkeley alumnus, I am glad that we can finally resolve this long battle with a victory for Jewish American students and for all Americans who care about free speech and fairness,” said Mr. Marcus, who served as U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education during the first Trump administration. “What began as a ban on Zionist Jewish voices, regardless of the subjects they wished to address, and mushroomed into a widespread hostile environment will no longer be tolerated.”

The effort began in August 2022 when Law Students for Justice in Palestine announced it would not host speakers who support “Zionism, the apartheid state of Israel and the occupation of Palestine.”

Eight groups followed suit, including the Asian Pacific American Law Student Association; Law Students of African Descent, and the Queer Caucus at Berkeley Law, prompting Mr. Marcus to accuse the university of tolerating “Jewish-free zones.”

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The university sought to dismiss the lawsuit, but a federal judge ruled in March 2025 that the complaint could proceed, saying that it “plausibly alleges disparate treatment with discriminatory intent.”

Under the settlement, Brandeis said the university will remove “all discriminatory bylaws and ensure that registered student organizations, journals and clinics cannot exclude persons from membership, leadership, participation, or speaking regardless of their support for Israel or Zionism.”

The university also agreed to reaffirm its ban on discrimination based on “Jewish religion, shared ancestry, shared ethnicity, and Israeli national origin,” and use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism when evaluating complaints.

Berkeley spokesperson Dan Mogulof emphasized that the university has already taken “significant steps” to address discrimination and harassment against Jews and Israelis since the lawsuit was filed in 2023.

“This settlement reflects UC Berkeley’s long-standing values and objectives when it comes to combating abhorrent antisemitic expression, harassment, and discrimination when it occurs on the Berkeley campus,” he said.

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He stressed that the university began taking into consideration the IHRA definition of antisemitism two years ago in response to the Biden administration’s 2024 guidance.

The university also agreed to “maintain our practice of rejecting calls for boycotts against and divestment from Israel” while denying any liability or wrongdoing alleged in the lawsuit.

Attorneys for Willkie Farr & Fallagher LLP and Torridon Law PLLC, the outside counsel for the Brandeis Center, said the settlement secures “meaningful protections for Jewish and Israeli students at UC Berkeley.”

Mr. Marcus said universities, as well as unions, corporations and political parties, “cannot create an anti-Zionist exception to their conduct codes.”

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“As we have now seen time and again, if left unaddressed anti-Semitic bigotry, whether or not masked as anti-Zionism, only continues to expand,” he said. “We will fight this bigotry wherever and whenever we find it, and we will win.”

In December, Brandeis settled a lawsuit with Berkeley filed by Yael Nativ, a visiting dance professor from Israel, who accused the university of discrimination by refusing to rehire her as pro-Palestinian protests roiled the campus in 2023.

She received an apology from University of California Chancellor Rich Lyons and a $60,000 settlement.

• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.