Harvard University Settles Jewish Student’s Lawsuit Alleging Anti-Semitism

The Orthodox Jewish student and the school settled for an unknown amount following a 16 month legal battle.

People gather around the John Harvard Statue on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on April 15, 2025. Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images

Harvard University agreed on Thursday to settle a lawsuit filed by a student who accused officials of ignoring alleged discrimination against Jewish students on campus, ending a 16-month legal battle.

The legal challenge was brought by Alexander Kestenbaum, also known as Shabbos, and the nonprofit group Students Against Antisemitism in January 2024.

Kestenbaum and Harvard jointly agreed to end the case, according to a dismissal notice filed in Boston federal court.

The student’s claims were dismissed with prejudice, meaning the case cannot be bought back into court.

The terms of the settlement remain confidential.

“Harvard and Mr. Kestenbaum acknowledge each other’s steadfast and important efforts to combat antisemitism at Harvard and elsewhere,” the university said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times. “Harvard and Mr. Kestenbaum are pleased to have resolved the litigation.”

Kestenbaum graduated from Harvard Divinity School last year, and has become a growing voice in a Republican-led campaign aimed at rooting out alleged antisemitism at major American universities.

In a separate statement on the social media platform X, he said his lawsuit had drawn the nation’s attention to what he described as the “scourge of antisemitism” at Harvard and other campuses.

“By filing our lawsuit, Harvard began efforts to reform, and with President Trump’s efforts it will continue to face a stark choice—enforce its policies and uphold its federal obligations or lose out on taxpayer funding and continue to destroy the University’s reputation,” he continued.

Kestenbaum said he would continue to the Trump administration in “pursuing much-needed change” at Harvard and other colleges and universities across the country.

Lawsuit Alleges ‘Jewish Hatred’ Rampant at Harvard

Kestenbaum’s lawsuit alleged Harvard had become “a bastion of rampant anti Jewish hatred and harassment,” in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas incursion into Israel.

The terrorist group killed 1,200 people and took around 250 hostages during the attack. Since then more than 52,800 Palestinians, many of them women and children, have been killed in the war in Gaza, according to the Hamas-controlled health ministry.

The lawsuit cited protests on campus in support of Palestine that it alleged were anti-Semitic, and claimed Jewish students at the school have been attacked on social media.

It further alleged that Harvard faculty members have “promulgated antisemitism in their courses and dismissed and intimidated students who object.”

The suit accused the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based school of violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars universities that receive federal funds from intentionally discriminating against students on the ground of national origin.

It said the school should be compelled to implement “institutional, far-reaching, and concrete remedial measures,” including terminating employees who are allegedly responsible for “antisemitic discrimination and abuse,” and suspending students who engaged in such conduct.

Harvard said in March that it has devoted “considerable effort to addressing antisemitism” over the past fifteen months and strengthened its rules and its approach to disciplining those who violate them.

“We have enhanced training and education on antisemitism across our campus and introduced measures to support our Jewish community and ensure student safety and security,” it said in a statement.

“We have launched programs to promote civil dialogue and respectful disagreement inside and outside the classroom.”

The school added that it has also adopted many other reforms, and will “continue to combat antisemitism and to foster a campus culture that includes and supports every member of our community.”

Harvard settled with Students Against Antisemitism and a separate group suing the University over similar claims in January, agreeing to undertake new actions to combat antisemitism on its campus, though it did not admit any wrongdoing or liability.

Kestenbaum did not settle at the time and instead pursued his case against the school under an amended complaint, which was settled on Thursday.

The Epoch Times has contacted a spokesperson for Harvard for further comment.