A federal judge will not dismiss a lawsuit against Harvard University alleging it failed to protect its Jewish students from antisemitism.
After months of scrutiny, a lawsuit against the school will move forward.
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"It is a damning indictment on the state of higher education, and on the state of Harvard University, that in order to receive equity, and justice and equality, we have to sue them," said Shabbos Kestenbaum, one of the Jewish students who filed the lawsuit.
The suit alleges that Harvard ignored discrimination against Jewish and Israeli students in the aftermath of Hamas' attack on Oct. 7, and amid protest against Israel's response in Gaza.
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The judge found Harvard's reaction was, "at best, indecisive, vacillating, and at times internally contradictory."
"We had a physical assault at the business school, we had a Jewish student who'd been spat on, we had an Israeli student being told by their professor to leave class because their nationality made others uncomfortable," Kestenbaum said. "I mean, it's almost as if you were writing a horror film."
Other schools across the country have faced similar lawsuits from Jewish students, including at MIT — a lawsuit the same judge dismissed last month.
"This is the reality that far too many Jews have been experiencing on Harvard's campus and on college campuses across the United States since Oct. 7," Kestenbaum said.
Meanwhile, Harvard has repeatedly claimed that protests were allowed to continue on campus in order to protect freedom of speech.
A spokesperson for Harvard… saying in part:
"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," a school spokesperson said in a statement. "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."
Harvard's former president, Claudine Gay, stepped down earlier this year following criticism over her testimony about antisemitism during a congressional hearing.
She also faced allegations of plagiarism.
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