“Harvard’s reaction was, at best, indecisive, vacillating, and at times intentionally contradictory,” the judge wrote, finding that the “facts as pled show that Harvard failed its Jewish students.”
Harvard has failed to persuade a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that university neglected to address antisemitism amidst a spate of pro-Palestine protests.
According to The Boston Globe, U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns rejected Harvard’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit on Tuesday. In his decision, Stearns said that the plaintiffs have raised plausible claims that the school did not give adequate response to Jewish and Israeli students who said they were harassed by protesters and their peers.
“Harvard’s reaction was, at best, indecisive, vacillating, and at times intentionally contradictory,” Stearns wrote, finding that the “facts as pled show that Harvard failed its Jewish students.”
Stearns observed that Harvard administrators, including former university president Claudine Gay and current interim president Alan Garber, “repeatedly publicly recognized” an “eruption of antisemitism” on campus, yet in many instances “did not respond at all” to Jewish students’ concerns.
“To conclude that [Plaintiff] has not plausibly alleged deliberate indifference would reward Harvard for virtuous public declarations that for the most part, according to the allegations of the [Plaintiff], proved hollow when it came to taking disciplinary measures against offending students and faculty,” Stearns wrote. “In other words, the facts as pled show that Harvard has failed its Jewish students.”
Although Stearns stated that the case does not appear to meet the standard for a Title VI claim, the lawsuit raises concerns that Harvard may have “[failed] to evenhandedly administer its policies” by selectively penalizing certain students while turning a blind eye to alleged acts of misconduct committed by some pro-Palestine protesters.
Harvard has since released a statement, provided to The Boston Globe and other media sources, affirming its stance against antisemitism.
“Harvard has and will continue to take concrete steps to address the root cause of antisemitism on campus and protect our Jewish and Israeli students, ensuring they may pursue their education free from harassment and discrimination,” a Harvard spokesperson said, noting that Stearns’ ruling dismissed one of the lawsuit’s core claims.
“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,” the spokesperson said. “Harvard is confident that once the facts in this case are made clear, it will be evident that Harvard acted fairly and with deep concern for our Jewish and Israeli students.”
Alexander Kestenbaum, named in the lawsuit as a co-plaintiff with Students Against Antisemitism, has since said that he is disappointed that students have had to sue their university.
But Harvard, Kestenbaum said, “has been unwilling for months to listen to their own students,” and did not “do anything meaningfully [sic] to combat bigotry and hatred on its campus.”
“Jewish students have a voice and Jewish students will continue to speak up,” Kestenbaum said in a statement. “Harvard will be held accountable for their normalization, acceptance, and celebration of antisemitism on its campus.”
The Boston Globe notes that Harvard’s interim president, Alan Garber, formed two task forces to investigate on-campus antisemitism and Islamophobia. In June, the antisemitism task force stated that the “situation of Israeli students at Harvard has been dire.”
“They have frequently been subject to derision and social exclusion,” a task force report said. “Discrimination, bullying, or harassment based on an individual’s Israeli nationality is a gross violation of University policy and, beginning immediately, must be both publicly condemned and subject to substantive disciplinary action.”
Sources
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