This post was updated Aug. 31 at 7:14 p.m.
A UCLA doctoral student filed a lawsuit against the UC Board of Regents on Tuesday, alleging that the university unfairly suspended him for participating in pro-Palestine protests.
UCLA suspended Dylan Kupsh, a member of Graduate Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA, on June 22 and terminated his teaching assistant appointments through Dec. 11, according to the lawsuit filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court. He alleged that the university violated his due process rights and had insufficient evidence to suspend him.
Kupsh also filed the lawsuit against two UCLA student conduct employees and Jeffrey Chobanian, the captain of UCPD’s operations bureau.
The UC Office of the President, UCLA Media Relations and Chobanian did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
UCLA has brought 14 disciplinary charges against Kupsh in response to his participation in five pro-Palestine demonstrations over the past two years, according to the lawsuit.
The university placed Kupsh on an interim suspension from June 2025 to March 2026 while disciplinary proceedings against him were pending. UCLA withheld Kupsh’s master’s degree after he completed his program in December 2024, the lawsuit stated.
Kupsh is asking the court to reverse his current suspension and allow him to resume his doctoral program.
“If this suspension is imposed, despite achieving candidacy, my ability to complete my doctorate will likely collapse,” Kupsh wrote in a July appeal to Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Monroe Gorden Jr.
Students for Justice in Palestine and GSJP have frequently held protests on campus since the Israel-Hamas war started Oct. 7, 2023, when Palestinian political party and militant group Hamas attacked Israel and killed around 1,200 people. The Israeli military has since killed more than 70,000 Palestinians in an offensive response to the attack, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Chobanian urged university officials to pursue disciplinary action against Kupsh in a May 2025 email to Steve Lurie, associate vice chancellor for campus and community safety, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit stated that Chobanian described Kupsh in the email as a “known organizer” and “central figure” of SJP and GSJP who undermined institutional authority.
A student conduct committee panel found insufficient evidence that Kupsh organized any pro-Palestine protests or failed to comply with university officials or police, but it found him responsible for interfering with campus traffic, the lawsuit stated.
“Instead of functioning as intended as a temporary suspension from UCLA, these sanctions function effectively as a permanent dismissal from the University rather than a temporary suspension,” Kupsh wrote in his appeal to Gorden.
