Published by Jewish Insider on 01/21/2025. Harvard University has agreed to implement the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism as part of a resolution to two Title VI lawsuits that it settled in federal court in Boston. One of the lawsuits, filed in May by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and Jewish Americans for Fairness in Education, alleged that since the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks in Israel, students and faculty on campus have called for violence against Jews and celebrated Hamas’ terrorism as the university ignored harassment — including a physical assault — of Jewish students. The other suit was filed in January 2024 by Students Against Antisemitism, a group of six Jewish Harvard students, who alleged the school had not protected them from “severe and pervasive” campus antisemitism. In November, a judge consolidated the two lawsuits after Harvard unsuccessfully moved to dismiss both. In addition to adopting IHRA, Harvard agreed to prepare a public annual report for the next five years that covers its response to violations of the Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars discrimination and harassment based on national origin. It also agreed to provide clarification on its website that Jewish and Israeli students are covered by Harvard’s existing Non-Discrimination and Anti-Bullying Policies. The May complaint, a copy of which was first obtained by Jewish Insider, stated that Harvard allowed student protesters to occupy and vandalize buildings, and interrupt classes and exams. “Professors, too, have explicitly supported Jewish and Israeli terrorism, and spread antisemitic propaganda in their classes,” according to a Brandeis Center statement. “Jewish students are bullied and spat on, intimidated, and threatened, and subject to verbal and physical harassment.” “This settlement agreement is a major advance for students at Harvard University,” Ken Marcus, founder of the Brandeis Center, told JI. “We expect that it will have an extraordinary impact for colleges and universities around the country. There is now a Harvard standard that other colleges will need to strive to meet.” Marcus called Harvard’s agreement to incorporate IHRA — and to use it explicitly in its anti-discrimination policy — “critical.” “Harvard isn’t the first university in the U.S. to agree to do this, but certainly the most prominent,” Marcus said. “We expect that their lead will now be followed elsewhere.” Harvard said it would also invest additional academic resources to study antisemitism and will establish another partnership with a university in Israel, in addition to programs the university currently has in place with Israeli universities. “We routinely hear from ill-informed university administrators that they make a strong distinction between antisemitism and anti-Zionism,” Marcus said. “The fact is that rules against Zionists are rules against Jews. That’s a battle we’re fighting around the country [and] having support from Harvard’s new policy will help us in that respect as well.” “Today’s settlement reflects Harvard’s enduring commitment to ensuring our Jewish students, faculty, and staff are embraced, respected, and supported,” a Harvard spokesperson said in a statement. “We will continue to strengthen our policies, systems, and operations to combat antisemitism and all forms of hate and ensure all members of the Harvard community have the support they need to pursue their academic, research and professional work and feel they belong on our campus and in our classrooms.” The spokesperson declined to provide further comment to JI. Shabbos Kestenbaum, the lead plaintiff in the SAA lawsuit and a recent graduate of the Harvard Divinity School, refused to join the settlement agreement and will pursue additional litigation with new counsel, The Harvard Crimson reported. Several other universities nationwide have settled antisemitism complaints in recent weeks as President Donald Trump, who has threatened that universities could lose accreditation and federal support if they fail to address rising levels of antisemitism on campus, returns to the White House.