Harvard 'failed its Jewish students' and must face antisemitism lawsuit, judge rules

Harvard University "failed its Jewish students" and must face a lawsuit over antisemitism on campus following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack against Israel, a federal judge in Boston ruled.

Judge Richard Stearns said Jewish students plausibly claimed Harvard had been indifferent to their fears of walking through the campus and missing classes and extracurricular activities when they were allegedly harassed by pro-Palestinian protesters.

He did not rule on the merits of the claims, only that the lawsuit could move forward.

"The protests were, at times, confrontational and physically violent, and plaintiffs legitimately fear their repetition," Stearns wrote. "[P]laintiffs have plausibly pled that they were subject to severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive harassment."

Stearns said he was "dubious" of Harvard's claim that it allowed the protests to continue in order to protect the free speech rights of demonstrators. Instead, Harvard's reaction was "at best, indecisive, vacillating, and at times internally contradictory," the judge concluded.

"To conclude that the [lawsuit] has not plausibly alleged deliberate indifference would reward Harvard for virtuous public declarations that for the most part, according to the allegations of the [lawsuit], proved hollow when it came to taking disciplinary measures against offending students and faculty," Stearns wrote in the opinion. "In other words, the facts as pled show that Harvard failed its Jewish students."

In a statement to ABC News, a spokesperson for Harvard said the university "has and will continue to take concrete steps to address the root causes of antisemitism on campus and protect our Jewish and Israeli students, ensuring they may pursue their education free from harassment and discrimination."

"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 added. "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."

In a statement in December, then-Harvard President Claudine Gay said there are "some who have confused a right to free expression with the idea that Harvard will condone calls for violence against Jewish students."

"Calls for violence or genocide against the Jewish community, or any religious or ethnic group are vile, they have no place at Harvard," she said, adding, "Those who threaten our Jewish students will be held to account."

In the months since Oct. 7, numerous universities have faced criticism for their handling of both antisemitism and Islamophobia on campuses.

More than a dozen pro-Palestinian Harvard students filed a civil rights complaint with the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights in January, alleging the university had failed to protect them from harassment, threats and assault.

Harvard isn't the only one to face a lawsuit. Jewish students have also sued UCLA, New York University and Columbia University over their response to pro-Palestinian campus protests.

The U.S. Department of Education has opened Title VI discrimination investigations into both antisemitism and Islamophobia at several educational institutions, including major universities and the New York City Department of Education.

Federal officials have said the Jewish community, as well as the Muslim and Arab communities, have faced a sharp uptick in threats and hate speech since Oct. 7.

In January, Gay stepped down following a congressional hearing about antisemitism at the school and amid accusations of plagiarism.