The Lawfare Project, along with Eric Levine of Eiseman Levine Lehrhaupt & Kakoyiannis, P.C., announced that Columbia University has updated its University for Safe Demonstrations policy on campus. This comes following a recent lawsuit by the Lawfare Project against Columbia University on behalf of Mackenzie, a Jewish student who was the target of an alleged antisemitic retaliation campaign.
According to Columbia, the new policy requires that demonstrations “do not disrupt academic life on campus,” and it “does not allow protest activity in academic spaces.”
“Columbia is only now attempting to take steps to protect students on their campus from pro-Hamas mobs but why is this only happening now? The administration has much more work to do to address underlying antisemitism,” said Brooke Goldstein, founder and executive director of the Lawfare Project. “We filed our recent suit against the university because they failed to protect Mackenzie Forrest—a Jewish student—from alleged antisemitism and did not provide her with reasonable accommodations to engage in her academic career which she is legally entitled to. We hope that Columbia and other higher education institutions create real systemic change to ensure that their students can learn in safe environments free from hate.”
The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief and monetary damages based on federal, state and common law claims arising out of the retaliation Mackenzie experienced after requesting religious and safety accommodations, and for the pervasively hostile environment she was subjected to because of her status as a Jew.
For more information about the Lawfare Project, visit their website or contact James Lambert, vice president at Rubenstein Public Relations, at jlambert@rubnesteinpr.com or at: 212-805-3024.
