Brandeis Center Amicus Brief Raises Alarm on Dismissal of Well-Pled Title VI Claims, District Court Ignored Vital Broader Context in Which Alleged Anti-Semitic Incidents on Campus Occurred Washington, D.C. (October 23, 2025) – The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law on Wednesday filed an amicus curiae brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in Yakoby et al. v. University of Pennsylvania, urging the Court to reverse the dismissal of Jewish students’ Title VI claims. The Brandeis Center argues that the district court’s ruling that The University of Pennsylvania’s response to anti-Semitism on its campus was adequate failed to properly consider both the numerous egregious acts that created a hostile environment for Jewish students at Penn and how the broader context of rising anti-Semitism across the nation and globe exacerbated their impact on students and necessitated a more serious response by the University. Rather than appropriately addressing anti-Semitic incidents on its campus, the plaintiffs allege, Penn responded with empty statements and ineffective committees that brought no real change, and emboldened further hostility by failing to enforce its policies and discipline bad actors. Not only does the trial court’s decision undervalue the ample allegations of a hostile environment at Penn – including anti-Jewish vandalism, slurs, threats of violence, glorification of the slaughter of Israeli civilians on October 7, and anti-Semitic tropes perpetuated by professors in the classroom – it ignores the broader context in which Jewish students experience and respond to anti-Semitic events on their campus, particularly over the last two years. In fact, the documented rise in anti-Semitic hate crimes and discrimination in academic spaces are relevant to assessing if a university’s response to a hostile environment on its campus demonstrated deliberate indifference to the rights and safety of its Jewish students in violation of Title VI. “Inaction from universities and other entities in addressing anti-Semitism is normalized when courts overlook the broader context of surging anti-Semitism nationwide. This undoubtedly leads to the proliferation of similar incidents in the future,” said Hon. Kenneth L. Marcus, chairman of the Brandeis Center and the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education who ran the Office for Civil Rights, which investigates schools for civil rights violations, during two administrations. “Title VI mandates that universities meaningfully address discrimination. To do so, courts must consider the plaintiffs’ specific allegations and the broader hostile environment on campus directed at the group, which are impacted by the surrounding climate of anti-Semitism that has exploded in academic spaces and beyond. Many victims of anti-Semitism are deterred from pursuing legal action if they are not given the opportunity to present evidence and relevant context is ignored, meaning these kinds of evil acts will continue with little accountability.” In the brief, which is subject to court approval, the Brandeis Center provides a detailed analysis of anti-Semitic violence, discrimination, and retaliation, including the following statistics: Overall hate crime incidents in the U.S. decreased from 2023 to 2024 – but not for Jews. During that same period, anti-Jewish hate crimes rose 5.8%, reaching 1,938 incidents – the highest number ever recorded since the FBI began collecting such data over two decades ago. Assaults at Jewish institutions recorded by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) more than doubled between 2023 and 2024. The ADL observed a stunning 344% increase in anti-Semitic incidents over the past five years (893% over the past decade). In a 2024 survey by the American Jewish Committee (AJC), 22% of respondents reported being or feeling excluded from a group or event on their college or university campus because they are Jewish. Hillel International – the largest organization for Jewish student life on campus, serving nearly 200,000 students each year at more than 850 colleges and universities worldwide – has documented a tenfold increase in anti-Semitic incidents on campuses since Hamas’s deadly October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. The Brandeis Center has long worked to expose and challenge severe, growing anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination at the University of Pennsylvania, advocating for the University to uphold its legal obligations under federal civil rights law. In November 2023, the Center filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights alleging that Penn had fostered and tolerated a hostile, anti-Semitic environment on campus. That complaint was ultimately not investigated due to the pendency of the Yakoby vs. Penn lawsuit. While the Brandeis Center’s original complaint and subsequent litigation are now pending appeal, the outcomes highlight the practical challenges Jewish students can face in having their experiences of anti-Semitism fully recognized and addressed today. Those same challenges are evident in the current case, underscoring the relevance of the Brandeis Center’s amicus brief in helping the court understand the broader context of rising anti-Semitism at Penn. The Brandeis Center also recently filed a lawsuit on behalf of a student and two researchers alleging discrimination and workplace harassment in a civil rights lawsuit against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Additionally, the Brandeis Center has filed federal lawsuits in response to anti-Semitic incidents at UC Berkeley, Stanford, Columbia, and UCLA. The U.S. Department of Education is investigating numerous Brandeis Center complaints, including against Yale University, UMass Amherst, Scripps College, and American University.