If you’re going to lease your baseball stadium on veterans’ land, and you don’t do enough work with the Department of Veteran Affairs to adequately provide for the vets, you’re liable to have a problem on your hands.
UCLA is feeling the consequences of this. Jackie Robinson Stadium was closed off on the order of federal judge David O. Carter earlier this week, as reported by the Associated Press (h/t Military News). UCLA’s lease on the stadium was deemed illegal because the plot of land it’s on isn’t predominantly focused on providing for military veterans.
Carter didn’t believe the enhanced proposal presented by UCLA chancellor Darnell Hunt was good enough to keep the stadium open.
#HappeningNow A remarkable scene on the campus of the West LA VA as VA police have blocked off Jackie Robinson Stadium and the entire @UCLABaseball facility – after a federal judge ordered it locked down because it doesn’t serve veterans or address veteran homelessness @ABC7 pic.twitter.com/Po5vYtKyHn
— Josh Haskell (@abc7JoshHaskell) September 26, 2024
#UPDATE signs are now up to keep anyone including students and those associated with @UCLA out of their baseball facility pic.twitter.com/gRX5nyHd5C
— Josh Haskell (@abc7JoshHaskell) September 26, 2024
A federal judge has locked UCLA baseball out of its stadium and practice field.
To open them back up, the school needs to present a plan for the land that makes serving veterans the “predominant focus” of the 10 acres leased by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
More ⬇️
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) September 27, 2024
Where the university falls short in particular is veteran housing access. To be clear, it appears this is a letdown on behalf of UCLA and Veteran Affairs, not just solely on the school. In fact, here’s a little more from the AP report on the class-action lawsuit filed by veterans, which invokes a government deed that’s well over a century old:
“The class-action lawsuit alleged the VA had failed to provide adequate housing for veterans and that its leases at its 388-acre (157-hectare) campus in West LA violated an 1888 deed to the U.S. government for the ‘permanent maintenance’ of a home for disabled soldiers.”
It’s difficult to try to sort out the specifics of this case, what role the VA plays in it — they’re now tasked with guarding anyone from entering the stadium — and whether the housing shortage pertains to veterans trying to attend school, or just veterans in general. That convoluted picture is probably part of the reason why this stadium closure is happening in the first place, and why even locals who’ve been in the area for a long time are struggling to make heads or tails of it:
A judge has locked #UCLA baseball out of its stadium and practice field until school presents a plan for the land that makes serving veterans the “predominant focus”.
I've been attending UCLA Baseball games there since the 70s on occasion. First as a batboy and this last season… pic.twitter.com/I9afCIwEt4— Pablo Pereira (@PabloWeather) September 27, 2024
Just never would’ve expected to see a headline about a college baseball venue closing on account of inadequate care for military veterans. Hopefully everything gets sorted by the time the 2025 college baseball season rolls around. That’s still several months out, but resolving a lawsuit can be met with a bunch of red tape and delays before it’s settled.
Another unfortunate byproduct of the lawsuit is that Judge Carter also ordered the closure of a couple parking lots, an oil drilling operation, and the Brentwood School for similar legal reasons related to veteran care.
Best of luck to the veterans getting access to the housing they deserve. It’s tough that their pursuit of justice comes at the expense of a seemingly unrelated major college sports team, though.
