Download PDF WASHINGTON, D.C. – This morning, The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law (LDB), announced its next batch of Spring LDB Law Student Chapter events. LDB, a national civil rights organization based in Washington, D.C., is best known for its work fighting anti-Semitism in higher education. These events will span the next six weeks at Cornell, CUNY, Harvard, Loyola Chicago, Northwestern, Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Chicago, the University of Minnesota, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Washington, and Yeshiva University, as well as at the StandWithUs anti-BDS conference in Los Angeles. LDB President Kenneth L. Marcus commented, “This semester has been a busy one for our Law Student Chapters. We opened new chapters at UC Berkeley and Harvard Law Schools, while conducting a successful national leadership conference. Our students have been assisting Brandeis Center attorneys with legal advocacy and combating BDS resolutions on their campuses, and have been organizing a slew of educational events. We are really proud of these students!” Some schools, such as Harvard, Berkeley, and Chicago, will enjoy multiple LDB-sponsored events over the next six weeks. Most but not all of the events will take place at law schools. Marcus commented, “Law students are a critical underserved constituency, and far too little attention is given to the health of our country’s leading law schools. The Jewish community properly focuses much time and attention on undergraduate institutions but has too often ignored the critical importance of graduate and professional education.” Some of the upcoming events are as follows: On Monday, March 28, Cornell Law Professor William Jacobson will speak to University of Chicago students on the topic of, “ When Does Anti-Israelism turn into Anti-Semitism?” He will discuss the competing needs for freedom of speech and civility through tolerance are struggling across campuses nationwide, and the question of, how should law schools and universities balance these needs? The event, co-sponsored by LDB, is being organized as a talk on diversity through U Chicago’s Keystone Program. Later the same afternoon, Prof. Jacobson will address the Chicago-Loyola LDB Law Student Chapter on the topic of “The Case for Academic Freedom Against BDS.” Prof. Jacobson will discuss the history of the BDS movement, the nature of academic BDS and why regardless of whether one is pro-Israel, anti-Israel or someplace in between, one should be against academic BDS. The event will be co-sponsored by several student groups, including the Loyola Decalogue Society and DePaul’s Center for Jewish Law & Judaic Studies (JLJS). Also on March 28, LDB President Kenneth L. Marcus will speak on a panel to students at Northwestern University Law School on “Beyond Biglaw: Alternative Career Paths in the Law?” LDB President Marcus will also address the LDB chapter at the University of Chicago Law School on Tuesday, March 29. He will speak on the topic of “Making Dollars or Making Change: BigLaw, Human Rights, and the Purposeful Lawyer.” On Wednesday, March 30, Professor Alex Tsesis of Loyola University Chicago School of Law will speak to the LDB law student chapter at the University of Minnesota on the topic of, “Free Speech in the Age of the Internet.” Prof. Tsesis will discuss the First Amendment limits and extent to which the federal government can limit terrorist incitement on social media. At CUNY Law School on Wednesday, March 30, Dr. Aleksandra Gliszcznska-Grabias will speak on, “Case-law of the European Court of Human Rights in cases concerning anti-Semitism. Polish scholar, Dr. Grabias, is currently a Senior Researcher at the Poznan Human Rights Centre, Institute of Legal Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences where in 2012 she defended her PhD on counteracting anti-Semitism with legal instruments of the international human rights law. On Thursday, March 31, LDB Staff Attorney Aviva Vogelstein will travel to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to launch the 18th (“chai”) LDB law student chapter at Harvard University. Vogelstein will speak on “Fighting the New Anti-Semitism,” and will discuss the various opportunities LDB can offer to Harvard law students. Vogelstein, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania (BA ’10) and Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (JD ’13) has worked with the Brandeis Center for two years. Her work focuses on combating the resurgence of anti-Semitism on American university campuses through legal and public policy approaches, as well as growing LDB’s Law Student Chapter Initiative, to train the next generation of lawyers to use their legal tools to fight anti-Semitism. The momentum continues in April… On April 4 and April 5, the current Chief Legal Advisor to the Israeli National Police, BG Shaul Gordon, will be speaking to the LDB Law Student Chapters at Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania, respectively, on the topic of “Implementing the Law against Lone Attackers – The Israel National Police Perspective.” These events are made possible through the generous sponsorship of Our Soldiers Speak. On April 5, LDB President Marcus will chair a panel on anti-Semitism at Indiana University. Marcus will also be speaking at the StandWithUs Anti-BDS Conference in Los Angeles on April 9-11. On Tuesday evening, April 12, Marcus will deliver an address to the Center for Holocaust and Jewish Studies at Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg, on “The Definition of Anti-Semitism,” which is also the topic of his latest book. On April 7, Professor Eugene Kontorovich of Northwestern University Law School will speak to LDB students at Harvard Law School. Professor Kontorovich’s research spans the fields of constitutional law, international law, and law and economics. He is also one of the world’s preeminent experts on international law and the Israel-Arab conflict, having written and lectured extensively about the legal aspects of it. The LDB chapter at Yeshiva University’s Cardozo Law School will host Professor Abraham Bell on April 12, to speak on the topic of “International Law, Lawfare, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict.” Professor Bell teaches at the University of San Diego School of Law Bar Ilan University, and teaches and writes in the areas of property, copyright, international law, and economic analysis of law. Professor Tsesis of Loyola University Chicago Law School will also be speaking to the LDB law student chapter at the University of California at Berkeley on the topic of, “Terrorist Incitement on the Internet,” on April 13. On April 19, LDB President Marcus will visit the University of Washington School of Law, and will discuss the “The Definition of Anti-Semitism.” The event will be co-sponsored by the Cardozo Society, Hillel UW, and StandWithUs Northwest, and 1 CLE credit may be received for attending. Marcus will speak about legal causes of action for students who are affected by religious bias and discrimination on college campuses, and how universities can promote the civil rights of all students by adopting definitions of anti-Semitism and other religious discrimination. LDB Staff Attorney Aviva Vogelstein commented, “We hope that this April showering of events will bring May… flowers, and rest and relaxation for LDB law students during finals season!”