(Reuters) – Harvard University has been sued by Jewish students who accused the university of allowing its campus to become a “bastion” of rampant antisemitism.
In a complaint filed on Wednesday night in Boston federal court, students accused Harvard of “selectively” enforcing its policies to avoid protecting Jewish students from harassment, ignoring their pleas for protest, and hiring professors who support anti-Jewish violence and spread antisemitic propaganda.
Students sued after the university’s president Claudine Gay stepped down last week, facing heavy criticism for her response to antisemitism on campus in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.
The complaint seeks remedies including an injunction barring Harvard from violating a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination. Other schools, including New York University and the University of California, Berkeley face similar lawsuits.
Academic institutions around the world have been rocked by disputes over free speech and the right to protest since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza three months ago.
Harvard did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Ros Russell)
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