Judge allows antisemitism lawsuit against Harvard to proceed

Harvard University lost its bid Tuesday to block Jewish students' antisemitism lawsuit.

The students accused the Ivy League school of letting its campus "become a bastion of antisemitism," Reuters reported.

U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns did not rule on the merits but found the students plausibly alleged Harvard inadequately responded to on-campus anti-Semitism.

"The facts as pled show that Harvard failed its Jewish students," Stearns ruled.

He did not buy Harvard's First Amendment argument that some of the campus conduct was constitutionally protected, calling it a "dubious" proposition.

The Jewish students sued Harvard in January over alleged selective enforcement of the institution's anti-discrimination policies. 

The students alleged Harvard failed to protect them from harassment, ignored their calls for protection, and hired anti-Semitic professors after the October 7 Hamas attacks.

The students seek an injunction preventing Harvard from violating Title VI, which bars federally funded institutions from permitting discrimination based on race, religion, or national origin.