UCLA Baseball Locked Out Of Jackie Robinson Stadium Following Court Ruling
Image credit: UCLA's Jackie Robinson Stadium (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea)
A federal judge issued an order late Wednesday night that barred UCLA from accessing its home field, Jackie Robinson Stadium, as well as its practice facility “until further notice” following an intense and lengthy court hearing.
Officials cordoned off the baseball facility at 12 p.m. PT on Thursday.
David O. Carter, a U.S. federal judge, ruled earlier this month in favor of a class-action lawsuit brought forward from disabled veterans that claimed the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs has failed to do enough to support and house disabled veterans in Los Angeles. Instead, Carter ruled, the VA illegally leased out parcels of land on its 388-acre campus to entities such as UCLA, the private K-12 Brentwood School and an oil drilling company. UCLA’s stadium facility sits on 10 acres of land that it leases from the VA.
In a hearing Wednesday, Carter barred UCLA from accessing its baseball facility after deeming its latest proposal to repurpose the land in a way that predominantly supports veterans “inadequate.”
The VA first received the land via a donation in 1888 with the mission of building housing for veterans. In his ruling, Carter ordered the VA to build 750 units of temporary housing within the next 18 months and upwards of 1,800 units of permanent housing over the next several years. It’s unclear where, exactly, these units will be built, or whether the parcel of land housing UCLA’s baseball facilities will be used for future units.
“We are disappointed with the ruling but are complying,” UCLA said in a statement Thursday, which reiterated its support for veterans. The school first leased land from VA in 1963, according to the release, in exchange for annual compensation for veteran programs.
“UCLA Athletics is actively working to adjust operations and training, as this means our students are no longer able to access Jackie Robinson Stadium.”
In the interim, the Bruins program doesn’t have an obvious place to play or practice despite the fall ball schedule ramping up. They are scheduled to host UC Irvine for a scrimmage at Jackie Robinson Stadium on Nov. 2, though that now appears in jeopardy.
Carter said Wednesday that in order to reopen the facilities, UCLA needs to propose a “position on how the 10 acres it currently occupies can be put to a use such that the provisions of services to veterans is the predominant focus of the activities of the Regents at the campus.”
“We hope for a swift legal resolution that lets our student-athletes return to the facility,” UCLA said in its statement.
