Following the Brandeis Center’s letter calling on the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to continue monitoring ongoing anti-Semitism at NYU, the U.S. Department of Education indicated that it will continue to supervise the University’s compliance with its pending Resolution Agreement with OCR.

Coverage of the Brandeis Center’s letter included Jewish Journal, The Algemeiner, and the Combat Anti-Semitism Movement. “The problem is that NYU has never done what it promised the [U.S. Ed. Dept.] that it would do. NYU committed to amend its anti-discrimination policy to expressly prohibit antisemitic conduct as defined in the Executive Order on Combating Anti-Semitism. NYU hasn’t done this,” declared Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus in a New York Sun op-ed. “Similarly, NYU fails to describe ‘the forms of anti-Semitism that can manifest in the University environment’ as it promised to do.”

Marcus Testifies Before VA Anti-Semitism Commission

Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus testified at the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Commission to Combat anti-Semitism. He was the only non-commission member invited to present.

Marcus discussed the importance of recognizing anti-Semitism throughout the political spectrum and “where we least expect it.” He urged the Commission to develop recommendations that are fully operational and have significant real-world impact, rather than just generating “feel good” press releases. Many Commission members expressed agreement with his statement and concurred on the need to make their work operational in a variety of contexts, including education, law enforcement, and institutions, such as museums.

Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus, in a sardonic op-ed for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, explored the many ways that our institutions snub Jewish American Heritage Month.

“The U.S. Department of State honors nine history and heritage months on its public website,” writes Marcus. “These months recognize women, LGBTQ, Asian, Hispanic, Caribbean, Arab and African Americans, among others. Jewish Americans, however, are forgotten – surprising, since our Secretary of State is a Jew.”

Marcus points out Harvard “has chosen this year to honor eight heritage months and seven identity recognition days.” But not Jewish American Heritage Month. The U.S. Census Bureau even ranked National Poultry Day higher than JAHM. “Symbols matter,” Marcus emphasizes.

“At a time when anti-Semitism is rising, a simple step that any institution can take is to celebrate Jewish American heritage, just as we do with the other heritages that make our nation strong.”

Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin and her father, Brandeis Center Legal Advisory Board member, Nathan Lewin, were among the 963 Americans on Russia’s latest list of permanently banned Americans. We could not be more proud. Although the Brandeis Center has not yet selected a location for our next conference, we are scratching Moscow and St. Petersburg off the list.

Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin led a CLE webinar  titled, “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) & Erasive Anti-Semitism” as part of a StandWithUs Saidoff Legal Department series on “Diverse and Current Legal Issues Impacting the Jewish Community.”

Brandeis Center Vice Chair L. Rachel Lerman exposed, in a Jewish Journal op-ed, efforts by the ‘Liberated’ Ethnic Studies group to reintroduce anti-Semitic curricular content in California classrooms.

As Lerman explains, Liberated previously drafted a model ethnic studies course “promoting a narrow and extreme form of ethnic studies…Liberated seeks to castigate “privileged” white and minority students and set them at odds with other minority students.”

Despite the overwhelmingly critical public reaction to the blatantly biased and anti-Semitic model ethnic studies curriculum, rejected by CA Governor Gavin Newsom, the CA legislature and Instructional Quality Commission, “Liberated has now repackaged and is surreptitiously selling a ‘new’ version of its curriculum to California school districts. In fact, Liberated has gone to great lengths to keep its curriculum secret from the public, although California law requires, at a minimum, that any proposal be publicly disseminated, with an opportunity for the public to respond before it is used by schools. So far, however, Liberated training events are by invitation only, and not open to the general public.”

Chairman Marcus shared further insights on this topic in this JNS deep dive.

Chairman Marcus spoke on Newsmax TV’s ‘The Chris Salcedo Show’ about the importance of academics working together to fight rising anti-Semitism at universities across the U.S. Marcus also shared insights about the affirmative action case pending before SCOTUS, Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard.

Reporting in the Jerusalem Post on investment firm Morningstar’s decision to drop a product used by its subsidiary to rate a company’ commitment to corporate responsibility, Brandeis Center Vice Chair L. Rachel Lerman examined baked-in anti-Israel bias in ‘environmental, social and governance’ (ESG) rating systems.

Lerman notes an over-reliance on media sources biased against Israel that “could easily result in ESG ratings influenced by parties with an anti-Israel agenda.”

An independent investigation of the Morningstar subsidiary product “advises the company to reconsider its practice of pressuring Israeli companies, co-signed by investors…of the importance of cooperating” with the product – because it “exceeds the bounds of objective analysis,” writes Lerman. “Hopefully, regulation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, reportedly in the works, will help ensure that ESG ratings are objective, transparent and less likely to reflect the political agenda of groups like BDS.”

In a pair of op-eds, Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus makes the case for strong parental involvement in school curricula. Marcus highlights important takeaways from a lawsuit filed by a parent against a posh Los Angeles private school and critically examines the Biden administration’s creation of the National Parents and Families Engagement Council.

In a piece for FoxNews.com, Marcus explores the lawsuit involving L.A.’s posh Brentwood School – which expelled a student after her father objected to the school’s new radical ‘anti-racist’ curriculum: “This is very different than urging them to become “not racist.” As [‘anti-racist’ author Ibram X.] Kendi teaches, ‘The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.’ In teaching anti-racism, Brentwood traded its previous, unfashionable racism for a more socially acceptable version.”

Writing in the Washington Times, Marcus asks if the real goal of Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona’s new initiative isn’t to strengthen relations between parents and schools – but the exact opposite: “They must engage with those who brought school reform onto the national agenda, not just those who uphold the national establishment and status quo….Is Mr. Cardona ready to engage, in a serious way, with parents who are outraged by critical race theory in their children’s classroom?”

News industry website The Journalist’s Resource sourced the Brandeis Center’s Fact Sheet on the ‘Elements of Anti-Semitic Discourse’ in an article to help journalists cover anti-Semitism responsibly: ‘8 tips to help journalists cover anti-Semitism – and avoid inadvertently perpetuating anti-Semitic stereotypes.’

Brandeis Center fact sheets, including ‘Best Practices Guide for Combating Campus Anti-Semitism and Anti-Israelism’ and ‘Title VI Fact Sheet,’ are located on our website.

Along with legal advocacy and research, a pillar of the Brandeis Center’s work is education. Our law clerk and internship programs are two important facets of this work. This summer, we are proud to welcome two civil rights law clerks and six communications and development interns to our team.

Brandeis Center intern, Nicole Rosenzweig, (pre-law, Duke ’24) published an op-ed in The Algemeiner detailing her experience as one of the only Jewish student senators in the Duke student government when it took the anti-Semitic and discriminatory action of denying recognition to a student chapter of Students Supporting Israel. Rosenzweig describes how, throughout the ordeal, Brandeis Center attorneys provided invaluable strategic and legal advice to Duke SSI students, and warned Duke President Vincent Price that formally recognizing Duke’s SSI chapter was the “only way to ensure the university’s compliance” with federal law. Ultimately, the Duke student government reinstated Dule SSI’s formal recognition.

Also this month, Brandeis Center intern, Rosemarie Goldstein (history major, Wellesley College ’24), published two blogs – one on the U.N. Special Rapporteur’s Action Plan to Combat Anti-Semitism and another recapping Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus’s testimony before the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Commission to Combat anti-Semitism.

We invite students to apply for communications and development internships for the 2022-23 academic year.