Jewish civil rights group files motion to revive anti-Semitism lawsuit against MIT
The complaint argues that "MIT deliberately dragged its feet for months" in response to rampant anti-Semitism.
The StandWithUs Center for Legal Justice recently filed a motion to revive an anti-Semitism lawsuit against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) after the lawsuit was dismissed by US District Court Judge Richard Gaylore Stearns in August.
According to legal documents drafted by the StandWithUs Center for Legal Justice, MIT faculty and administrators have failed to adequately punish anti-Semitism perpetrated by students and non-students alike.
“MIT failed its Jewish and Israeli students and violated the law repeatedly,” the StandWithUs Center for Legal Justice alleged in its opening brief.
“Properly considered, these allegations demonstrate MIT deliberately dragged its feet for months, only ever acting when the pressure and potential embarrassment due to its inaction boiled over, and even then, took only minimal action that fell far short of its legal obligations. These allegations also describe MIT’s selective enforcement of its rules to the detriment of its Jewish students.”
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Judge Stearns dismissed the original lawsuit on grounds that MIT had taken substantial action to stop discriminatory behavior and punish anti-Semitic protesters. In its motion to reverse the lawsuit’s dismissal, the StandWithUs Center for Legal Justice argued that the actions taken by MIT were clearly insufficient to reverse campus trends and demonstrated a lack of commitment to maintaining a safe learning environment.
“MIT’s response to this campaign of harassment was anemic. For instance, in response to the November 2, 2023 protest targeting individual Jewish professors and the office of MIT’s Israel internship program such that the staff and protesters felt trapped in their offices, MIT punished no students and sent no police,” the StandWithUs Center for Legal Justice stated.
“In response to the November 9, 2023 protest in Lobby 7, MIT warned students to protect themselves … rather than remove the students flagrantly violating MIT policy.”
Campus Reform has reported previously on MIT’s history of interaction with anti-Semitism. On October 7 2024, MIT president Sally Kornbluth skipped a school-wide ceremony in remembrance of the victims of Hamas’ attacks against Israel one year prior. A school spokesperson stated that “the president ha[d] a long-standing prior commitment at that time, which unfortunately could not be rescheduled.”
The spokesperson did not clarify the nature of this prior commitment.