Education

Alumni file lawsuit against Harvard alleging reputational damage due to ‘unrestrained’ antisemitism on campus

In the court filing, the group of 10 alumni say antisemitism on campus has been ongoing for years and resulted in diminished reputations and job prospects for graduates.

Steven Senne

By Emily Spatz

3 minutes to read

A group of 10 Harvard alumni filed a lawsuit against the university claiming the school’s failure to address “unrestrained antisemitism” on its campus has led to a devaluing of their diplomas and made a “mockery of graduates.”

The lawsuit, filed in Massachusetts federal court on Tuesday, claims that Harvard repeatedly failed to address instances of antisemitism on campus — even before Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks  — causing the school to lose its prestige and resulting in some employers shunning graduates of the school.

The involved alumni are seeking a jury trial. If found responsible, the school would have to financially compensate them for their education at Harvard, take disciplinary actions against what the group says is antisemitism on campus, and fire members of administration and faculty who engage in what the suit says is “antisemitic propaganda.”

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“While the campus devolved over the years from one of tolerance to its present state, Harvard has done nothing to address and halt this egregiousness and stop the rampant antisemitism on campus and in classrooms,” the lawsuit states. “Harvard, instead, has permitted, even sanctioned, pro-Hamas rallies at which antisemitic slogans were shouted and refused to enforce its policies to protect Jewish students.”

The alumni group specifically named several instances of protests on campus where chants of “from the river to the sea” and “globalize the Intifada” were used, which the group interprets as slogans that call for violence against Jewish people. The slogans have become a controversial, but common, rallying cries for pro-Palestinian activists.

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In addition to the protests, the complaint says Harvard has hired professors who have “spread antisemitic propaganda,” promoted antisemitic events, and “ignored Jewish students’ pleas for protection.” 

“Mobs of pro-Hamas students and faculty have rioted and marched on Harvard’s campus, shouting antisemitic slogans and calling for the death of Jews and the destruction of Israel,” the suit says. “Those mobs have harassed and assaulted fellow students and anyone on campus who they thought is Jewish or supports Israel.”

Campus climate hurts job prospects, alumni say

The alumni, five of whom currently reside in Israel, also claim that “various businesses, companies, law firms, and other employers have publicly announced they will no longer hire Harvard graduates” due to antisemitic incidents on campus, according to the lawsuit.

In December, law firm Edelson PC said it would pull out of recruiting events at Harvard in protest of Harvard University President Claude Gay’s congressional hearing during which she declined to say that threatening Jewish people with genocide violates the school’s code of conduct. 

Another law firm rescinded job offers to Harvard students who signed a statement Oct. 8 criticizing Israel’s role in the Israel-Hamas war, and other companies have said they wouldn’t hire students who were a part of organizations that signed onto the letter. 

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“Even those students and Harvard graduates who did not sign onto the letter are bound to face obstacles in the job market,” the lawsuit states. 

The letter was authored by the school’s Palestine Solidarity Committee and co-signed by 33 other Harvard student clubs, court documents say. 

“The value of a Harvard degree has been significantly diminished, rendering it functionally damaged in the professional and academic spheres,” the lawsuit reads. “Plaintiffs are in a situation they never imagined: they are ashamed to say they went to Harvard.”

Harvard “ought to be better”

The lawsuit alleges that antisemitism is not new to campus and has gone unaddressed for years. In one 2018 incident, a swastika was reportedly discovered on a bulletin board on campus, and plaintiffs allege Harvard took “no disciplinary action.”

This is not the first lawsuit Harvard is facing that claims an increasingly antisemitic campus climate since the Oct. 7 attacks. In December, six current Harvard students filed a lawsuit against the school alleging it failed to protect Jewish students’ civil rights. 

Plaintiffs acknowledge in the complaint that “while other universities have had antisemitism problems,” Harvard “ought to be better.” Alumni are alleging a breach of contract on behalf of the university, as they say Harvard agreed to uphold their reputation and prestige upon giving degrees to students.

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In the lawsuit, plaintiffs called on the university to take disciplinary measures including terminating administrators, professors, and faculty who “engage in” or “permit” antisemitism. The alumni are also seeking monetary damages for financial costs of having gone to Harvard and compensatory damages for reputational damage to the alumni.

“The lawsuit by these Harvard alumni reveals the growing outrage and contempt that graduates all across the U.S. are feeling over the wild antisemitism and hate speech being encouraged and explained away on the American campuses,” said plaintiffs’ attorney Nirsana Diarshan-Leitner. “This dangerous weaponization of higher education by radical faculty and students as well as the impotent administration response, all justified under the guise of academic freedom, has turned the colleges into hate centers which has greatly devalued their reputation and diplomas. We believe other graduates from other schools will soon be filing their own lawsuits.”

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