MIT students sue school over failure to protect fellow Jews on campus
Two Jewish students have sued the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, alleging the school has failed to address anti-Semitism and thereby causing them and others harm.
The lawsuit seeks remedies including terminating faculty responsible for abuse and providing educational training about anti-Semitism.
On March 7, two Jewish students filed a federal lawsuit against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, alleging that the school has failed to address rampant anti-Semitism on its campus.
The litigation has been brought forward by the StandWithUs Center for Legal Justice on behalf of MIT students Katerina Boukin and Marilyn Meyers.
“As a result of MIT’s blatant and intentional disregard for its legal obligations to its students, Plaintiffs and other students have suffered injury, including in their educational experience,” the lawsuit asserts. “Jewish and Israeli students at MIT have felt unsafe attending classes, have deferred graduation dates or exams, and even some Jewish and Israeli professors have left the university.”
The complaint states that the anti-Semitic harassment began to increase in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack against Israel.
“In the wake of the atrocities of October 7, 2023, the world changed, and so, too, did the experience of students, including and especially Jewish students, at MIT,” the complaint says.
The suit alleges that Jewish students at MIT were “subjected” to “in-person demonstrations” where the “very right of existence of the State of Israel” was targeted, in violation of MIT’s “anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies.”
Yet, according to the document, the university did little to alleviate Jewish students’ plight. The document asserts that the administration’s response was “glaringly inadequate.”
“In enabling this discriminatory conduct, MIT has directly and intentionally contributed to a pervasively hostile campus environment in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” it states.
The document also alleges that MIT’s inaction in response to anti-Semitism on campus constituted “blatant and intentional disregard for its legal obligations to its students.”
“Refusing to watch idly as their safety and educational experience were threatened, Plaintiffs took significant actions to seek—and even beg—for administrative support from MIT,” the complaint asserts. “Worse than simply ignoring Plaintiffs and other complaining students, MIT instead made empty promises followed by inaction.”
The complaint asks the court, among other measures, to force MIT to fire faculty and staff “responsible for the antisemitic abuse permeating the school,” take action by “suspending or expelling students and/or student groups who engage in such conduct,” and provide “education about antisemitism” such as required training for administrators and professors.
The lawsuit is similar to other recent suits filed at Rutgers University, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and UC Berkeley.
An MIT spokesperson told the Associated Press that the university does not comment on litigation pending judgment. “Generally, we’d note MIT has established processes in place to address concerns of discrimination and harassment,” the official said.
Campus Reform has contacted the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and StandWithUs Center for Legal Justice for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
