A federal judge told Harvard University it will have to face a lawsuit over claims it did not protect Jewish students against antisemitism. On Tuesday, Aug. 6, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Stearns denied Harvard’s motion to dismiss the suit from six Jewish Harvard students.
In the lawsuit, the students said the school was indifferent to harassment of and assaults on Jewish students at the hands of pro-Hamas students and faculty. The students pointed out what they called “vile antisemitic slogans” and calls for “death to Jews and Israel.”
Harvard pushed back, saying if it had broken up pro-Hamas campus protests the school would have infringed the First Amendment rights of students protesting the war in Gaza. Judge Stearns said he was “dubious that Harvard can hide behind the First Amendment.”
Harvard’s former president, Dr. Claudine Gay, drew harsh criticism after testifying in front of a U.S. House committee last December about the rise of antisemitism on campus.
“So based upon your testimony, you understand that this call for intifada is to commit genocide against the Jewish people in Israel and globally, correct?” Rep. Elsie Stefanik, R-N.Y., asked Gay.
“I will say again that type of hateful speech is personally abhorrent to me,” Gay responded.
Stefanik then asked Gay twice if that type of speech goes against Harvard’s code of conduct.
“We embrace a commitment to free expression, even of views that are objectionable, offensive, hateful,” Gay said.
Gay resigned her position in January following hearing backlash and allegations of plagiarism.
Students and activists set up anti-Israel encampments on several university campuses, including one at Harvard, after the Hamas attack on Oct. 7.
In the lawsuit, Jewish students claim mobs of pro-Hamas students and faculty “occupied buildings, classrooms, libraries, student lounges, plazas, and study halls, often for days or weeks at a time, promoting violence against Jews and harassing and assaulting them on campus.”
The students said the most striking part of all this was “Harvard’s abject failure and refusal to lift a finger to stop and deter this outrageous antisemitic conduct and penalize the students and faculty who perpetrate it.”
In his decision, Stearns said Jewish students “feared walking about campus, missed classes, and felt isolated from their classmates.”
Harvard spokesperson Jason Newton responded to the ruling in a statement.
“We appreciate that the court dismissed the claim that Harvard directly discriminated against members of our community, and we understand that the court considers it too early to make determinations on other claims,” Newton said. “Harvard is confident that once the facts in this case are made clear, it will be evident that Harvard has acted fairly and with deep concern for supporting our Jewish and Israeli students.”
Lawsuits have also been filed against UCLA, Columbia University and New York University.
