Richard Stearns, a judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, ruled on Tuesday that a Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law suit against Harvard University, which alleges that the Ivy League school failed to stop antisemitism on campus, can proceed.
“This is a huge win for Jewish students, both at Harvard and across the country,” stated Kenneth L. Marcus, chairman of Brandeis Center and a former U.S. assistant education secretary in the George W. Bush and Trump administrations.
“Just as the House of Representatives report recently concluded, Judge Stearns recognized that Harvard failed to address antisemitism, and he flat-out rejected Harvard’s disgraceful and continued attempts to gaslight Jewish students,” Marcus stated. “Harvard has repeatedly turned a blind eye to the egregious antisemitism gaining ground by the day on its campus.”
Marcus added that Harvard students have been threatened and assaulted, “both by students and professors.”
“Many avoid campus out of fear for their safety. Enough is enough,” he stated. “This lawsuit aims to hold Harvard accountable and force it to take the rights and safety of Jewish students seriously, and Judge Stearns’s ruling now clears the way for us to begin the important discovery process.”
The Brandeis Center chair added that “far too many universities have not responded effectively to the dangerous and rising antisemitism on their campuses, and we hope this important lawsuit sends a message to Harvard and all institutions that those days are over.”
According to the Brandeis Center, the judge recognized its “main and most important claim that Harvard left ‘cruel antisemitic bullying, harassment and discrimination’ unaddressed for years, pre- and post-Oct. 7.
“Brandeis Center attorneys argued ‘when Harvard is presented with incontrovertible evidence of antisemitic conduct, it ignores and tolerates it,’” the center stated. “Harvard attorneys urged the judge to dismiss the Brandeis Center’s complaint, however, Judge Stearns concluded Harvard took no reasonable action in response to the hostile environment and antisemitic incidents it knew about, and the Brandeis Center’s complaint warrants a hearing.”
