Antisemitism Lawsuit Against Harvard to Go Forward; Judge Consolidates with Related Case

Antisemitism Lawsuit Against Harvard to Go Forward; Judge Consolidates with Related Case

A lawsuit seeking to hold Harvard University accountable for allowing antisemitic conduct to run wild on its campus will go forward, a federal district judge ruled on Tuesday.

In May, the Brandeis Center and Jewish Americans for Fairness in Education (JAFE) brought three claims against Harvard under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, alleging that the school permitted Jewish and Israeli students to be “subjected to cruel antisemitic bullying, harassment, and discrimination” in recent years.

Earlier this week, Judge Richard Stearns dismissed two of the claims, but agreed that the third – alleging that Harvard knew students were subjected to a hostile educational environment, yet essentially did nothing – could proceed to discovery.

The court also consolidated the case with an earlier lawsuit against the school for refusing to address its antisemitism problem. That case was filed by a group of Jewish Harvard students in January and Jim covered it here.

The May lawsuit focuses on allegations of discrimination in a course taught by Harvard Kennedy School Professor Marshall Ganz by three students who wanted to do a project based on their Israeli and Jewish identity. Ganz, they say, pressured them to abandon it, comparing their use of the words “Jewish State” to advocating for “white supremacy.”

When they refused, the lawsuit says, Ganz retaliated by making them sit through a pro-Palestinian discussion group without giving them any opportunity to respond.

More antisemitism out of @Harvard: Last semester, @Kennedy_School professor Marshall Ganz told a group of students that the words "Jews" and "democracy" can't be applied to Israel and organized a "Palestinian solidarity" discussion during class.
Harvard's independent inquiry into… pic.twitter.com/7sMNja0eBM

— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) October 30, 2023

Harvard investigated the charges, according to the complaint, and despite confirming the factual claims, did nothing.

In another incident, Harvard administrators sat on their hands when a pro-Hamas demonstrator shoved a keffiyeh in the face of a Jewish Harvard Business School student and allegedly told him to “get out” of a shared student space during last October’s campus “die-in.” He refused, and other protestors surrounded him and pushed him away.

The demonstration went viral:

Harvard claims it began an outside investigation into the conflict, but the lawsuit says that probe went nowhere. Months later, the school still hasn’t taken any remedial action.

Harvard has a history of dragging its feet when confronted by Congress and even snubbing the recommendations of its own antisemitism advisory board.

Last December, when the House Committee on Education announced it was launching its probe into the school’s limp response to pervasive antisemitism on its campus, Harvard “attempted to stymie this investigation,” the court noted. The Committee had to issue subpoenas to force the school to comply with its requests.

In his ruling on Tuesday, Judge Stearns signaled impatience with the school’s failure to impose any consequences for the antisemitic conduct on its campus: The “complaint paints a picture of a campus environment that, allegedly to this day, is filled with antisemitic and anti-Israeli rhetoric that Harvard refuses to sanction or even address,” he said.

The “mere act of launching an investigation without any further follow-through” would not be enough to defeat the groups’ claim of Harvard’s deliberate indifference to the antisemitism on its campus. To conclude otherwise, the judge said, “would be to prioritize form over function.”

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