Harvard Hit With New Alumni Lawsuit Over Antisemitism

Harvard University President Claudine Gay speaks during a hearing of the House Committee on Education on Capitol Hill in Washington on Dec. 5, 2023. Ms. Gay resigned on Jan. 2, 2024, amid plagiarism accusations and criticism over testimony at a congressional hearing where she was unable to say unequivocally that calls on campus for the genocide of Jews would violate the school’s conduct policy. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)

Fallout over rampant antisemitism at Harvard University and the administration’s refusal to enforce its own policies and protect Jewish students on campus continues with a new lawsuit alleging that a Harvard degree, once a coveted and respected status symbol, is now all but worthless.

In the fall of 2022, the university was the target of a successful lawsuit brought by Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) over its affirmative action policies.

Since Hamas’s Oct. 7 aggression against Israel and slaughter and abduction of Israeli citizens, protests and rallies have rocked the Harvard campus, with demonstrators chanting slogans such as “From the river to the sea,” a mantra that many take to be a call for removing Jewish residents from disputed territory.

Jewish students at Harvard have described feeling unsafe on campus and have even reported instances of physical intimidation and assault.

Billionaire donor Bill Ackman has issued lengthy statements criticizing the administration on social media, blaming its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives for the rise of antisemitism on campus.

The university was already the target of a lawsuit that members of an organization called Students Against Antisemitism filed in federal court in Boston in January, charging that the administration had failed to take action in the face of the harassment and physical assaults on Jewish students. The plaintiffs in that suit include students enrolled in Harvard Law School and Harvard Divinity School, respectively.

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Now, disgruntled alumni have gone a step further. On Feb. 21, 10 Harvard alumni filed their lawsuit in a federal court in Massachusetts with a view toward bringing the matter to a jury trial.

In the view of the plaintiffs, Harvard sells itself to prospective students partly by fostering the understanding that the university’s name enjoys tremendous respect around the world and that having attended Harvard will make the alumni competitive in the eyes of employers for decades to come.

Now, antisemitic incidents and the vague and inconsistent answers of former President Claudine Gay during recent Congressional testimony have tarnished the Harvard name to the point where alumni have actually seen job offers rescinded and powerful donors turning their backs on the university, the plaintiffs claim.

During her testimony before Congress on Dec. 5, 2023, then-President Gay said, “Antisemitic speech when it crosses into conduct that amounts to bullying, harassment, intimidation—that is actionable conduct and we do take action.”

Ms. Gay then said that whether calls for genocide against Israel’s Jews amounts to harassment “depends on the context.”

The Blowback

Amid widespread outrage over her equivocations, and a national scandal over numerous instances of plagiarism in her academic work, Ms. Gay on Jan. 2 announced her resignation from the presidency of Harvard.

But, for many, this move does not come close to addressing Harvard’s myriad problems.

Prestigious law firms are no longer recruiting talent from Harvard. Billionaire donors, including philanthropist Leonard Blavatnik and Pershing Square Capital Management CEO Mr. Ackman, have publicly announced their withdrawal of gifts to the school out of disgust with its failure to address antisemitism and maintain a safe environment for Jewish students.

All these developments, in the view of the 10 plaintiffs in the new lawsuit, have turned the extravagant claims that Harvard makes about its worldwide prestige and the value of a Harvard degree into material falsehoods.

People walk through Harvard Yard at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., on Dec. 12, 2023. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP)

A legal expert who spoke to The Epoch Times on condition of anonymity said that while he found fault with the Harvard administration and agreed in principle with the new lawsuit, he did not expect it to get far in the courts.

In the expert’s view, there is no viable cause of action under existing legal frameworks for the claims that the plaintiffs have made about the decline in the value of a Harvard degree. A judge is likely to dismiss the case, the expert said.

The Harvard administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuits.