Published by Aish on 7/20/25 Lior Alon and William Sussman, two Jewish students, got into MIT, one of the top universities in the country where they were following their dreams. Alon, a former IDF soldier, was a postdoctoral student, while William was working towards becoming a PhD. Allegedly, tenured linguistics professor Michel DeGraff harassed Jews at MIT, including Lior and William. Lior claimed that DeGraff posted his name, the details of his IDF military service, and edited videos to portray a false narrative on social media, tagging Al Jazeera in the process. Lior was then aggressively confronted by strangers, including at his child’s daycare facility and the grocery store. Lior allegedly emailed MIT President Sally Kornbluth to express his fears for his safety and that of his family and requested that DeGraff’s videos be taken down. The president never responded, and no action was taken. Then, the professor allegedly relentlessly harassed William, sending a series of mass emails accusing William of having a Jewish “mind infection” and threatening to utilize him as a “real-life case study” in a class the professor was teaching. He sent these emails to his entire department, copying President Kornbluth – and she and the other administrators stayed silent. Immediately following this incident, flyers were slipped under doors in a dormitory where William previously lived, targeting him in an article that advocated for people to incite violence against Jews. He and his family feared for their safety, and when he asked for help from MIT’s non-discrimination office, they did not protect him. Instead, they concluded that the professor’s conduct wasn’t antisemitic. William was forced to leave MIT without completing his PhD program. Now, with help from the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and Senior Counsel Robin Pick, Lior and William are suing MIT because Professor DeGraff allegedly violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. “These incidents are emblematic of a larger problem on the MIT campus, where antisemitism was permitted to take root and grow in the absence of leadership and accountability,” Robin told Aish. “This professor’s conduct is just one example of the many manifestations of the severe and pervasive hostile environment for Jews that has been intensifying since October 7, 2023, and has continued to this day.” Lior, William, and Robin filed a complaint in federal district court in Massachusetts on June 25, 2025. The defendants have not yet responded. Antisemitism at MIT Like many prestigious American universities, MIT has had its slew of antisemitic incidents occur since Oct 7th. In a now infamous clip, Rep. Elise Stefanik questioned President Kornbluth, Former President of Harvard University Claudine Gay, and Former UPenn President Liz Magill about antisemitism on their campuses. They could not admit that there was antisemitism happening, and Gay and Magill ended up resigning. Kornbluth did not. Additionally, according to Robin, this summer at MIT, “We have witnessed a slew of ongoing incidents, including recent stickers with ‘You Can’t Deport the Intifada’ on campus. Just this weekend, ‘Death to the IOF’* 1 was spray-painted on a campus building and a professor was personally targeted.” (IOF is a term that means Israeli Occupation Forces) The purpose of this lawsuit is to hold the University accountable and to create necessary change so that MIT will be a safe campus for everyone, including the Jewish and Israeli members of the MIT community. The attorney said, “the failure of MIT’s leadership to intervene and take any meaningful action to stop the harassment and eliminate the hostile environment at every juncture has permitted this hostile climate for Jews to persist and intensify. The purpose of this lawsuit is to hold the University accountable and to create necessary change so that MIT will be a safe campus for everyone, including the Jewish and Israeli members of the MIT community.” Lior and William decided to bring forth this lawsuit with the Louis D. Brandeis Center because of what happened to Jewish students on campus and in the aftermath of October 7th off campus as well. “The violent rhetoric that we are hearing on college campuses is now being used by individuals committing horrific violent acts,” said Robin. “’Free Free Palestine’ was shouted by the perpetrator who killed two innocent people outside of a Jewish event in Washington, DC. A few days later, the perpetrator of the attack on Jews in Boulder, Colorado, also shouted ‘Free Palestine.’” What They Hope Will Result from This Lawsuit Robin believes Lior and William are “incredibly brave” because they have dealt with relentless harassment and threats, but are still willing to speak up, “because they believe in an MIT that is safe for Jews and Israelis where research and discovery can flourish,” she said. “Many students are afraid to come forward to speak publicly about what they have experienced because they are afraid of retaliation. Those who do come forward have an opportunity to make a difference for all Jewish students.” According to Robin, Lior and William want a campus that is not only safe for Jewish students, but also for everyone. “MIT must uphold its legal obligations under Title VI, not only for Jews and Israelis, but to keep the entire campus community safe, to protect the integrity of this institution and to ensure that MIT continues to be a leading contributor to the world of science and technology,” she said. “MIT is one of the world’s leading institutions and is a model for others to follow. They are currently setting a terrible example for other universities with respect to campus antisemitism. Our hope is that as a result of legal action, MIT will implement necessary systemic change to protect the Jewish and Israeli community members at MIT, and that MIT could one day be a model for other universities to follow in addressing campus antisemitism. We are a very long way from that, but that is the hope.”