The Zionist Organization of America, the Israel Law Center, the Batar Zionist Movement, Shields of David and other Jewish organizations are advocating for the resignation of Jamie Levitt, chairman of Cooper Union in New York City.
“This demand comes in response to repeated acts of heinous antisemitism” at the private college in Lower Manhattan, where “students and faculty gathered to celebrate acts of jihad and praise terrorists,” the organizations said in a joint statement on Oct. 16.
“Nothing is done, and nothing changes. We demand that Jamie Levitt resign immediately as chairman of Cooper Union,” said Nitsana Darshan Leitner of Shurat HaDin.
The statement outlined specific instances of antisemitism and the praising of terrorist acts, including administrators characterizing Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza after the terrorist attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, as “one year of genocide.” That month, students at Cooper Union harassed a group of their Jewish peers to the point where they had to barricade themselves in the campus library for safety.
“There must be zero tolerance for this rising scourge of Jew-hatred and Israel-hatred, which pose a huge danger to Jews and the entire country and world,” said Morton Klein, national president of ZOA. “Cooper Union had failed that important principle. Its board chair must go.”
The groups also intend to address Levitt’s workplace; she is co-chair of the commercial litigation and trial group, and former head of the New York litigation department, at the firm Morrison & Foerster.
“We demand she resign immediately, or we will consider alternative ways to place pressure on the firm. Silence is despicable, and this law firm remaining involved with Cooper Union is standing with Jew-hatred,” said Ross Glick, director of Betar US.
