March 19, 2024 ‘The Lead with Jake Tapper’ Segment on LDB Complaint against BUSD (CNN) Segment aired 3/18/24 on CNN program “The Lead with Jake Tapper;” Segment reporter Nick Watt, producer Kat Jaeger. Includes interviews with Jewish students from Berkeley Unified School District schools, who experienced anti-Semitic discrimination and harassment. To learn more about the Brandeis Center’s complaint against BUSD filed with the U.S. Dept. of Education Office for Civil […] Highlights Media Coverage
March 18, 2024 Awash in Qatari money, have US campuses become incubators for Doha’s interests? (Times of Israel) Published in Times of Israel on 3/14/24; Story by Tal Schneider The Gulf kingdom has lavished billions on US higher education as it seeks soft power, but some allege the money may also be fueling anti-Israel and anti-Jewish trends at schools One will not find many Qatari flags fluttering in College Station, the town that […] Highlights Media Coverage
March 8, 2024 Columbia’s proposals to tackle antisemitism draw mixed reviews from Jewish leaders (Jewish Insider) Published in Jewish Insider 3/7/24; Story by Haley Cohen Task force punts on whether some slogans chanted at anti-Israel rallies are antisemitic The recommendations handed down earlier this week from Columbia University’s task force on antisemitism painted a picture of Jewish students feeling “isolation and pain” in the wake of pro-Palestinian protests that have gripped […] Highlights Media Coverage
March 5, 2024 Antisemitic teens terrorizing Jewish teacher with Hitler jabs, death threats as NYC school refuses to discipline them: ‘I live in fear’: lawsuit (New York Post) Published in New York Post on 3/2/24; Story by Susan Edelman The kids are all reich. A Brooklyn high school has become a haven for Hitler-loving hooligans who terrorize Jewish teachers and classmates, The Post has learned. On Oct. 26, just three weeks after the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre of 1,200 Israelis, 40 to 50 […] Highlights Media Coverage
March 4, 2024 ‘Astonishing’ volume of investigations tests legal protections for Jewish students (The Forward) The Department of Education has opened 48 cases tied to antisemitism at colleges and universities since Oct. 7, most related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Published 3/1/24 in The Forward; Story by Arno Rosenfeld A federal investigation or lawsuit related to antisemitism on college campuses has been opened or filed nearly every other day on average […] Highlights Media Coverage
February 29, 2024 Federal complaint alleges Berkeley public schools allowed discrimination against Jewish children (LA Times) Published 2/28/24 in Los Angeles Times; Story by Jenny Jarvie The week after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Ilana Pearlman asked her 14-year-old son, Ezra, a ninth-grader at Berkeley High School who is Black and Jewish, if he felt safe. “Oh, yeah, I’ll be fine,” he told her. “I’m Black.” Pearlman, a 38-year-old midwife, […] Highlights Media Coverage
February 22, 2024 Matt Vogel: UVM’s remarkable turnaround has improved life for Jewish students (vtdigger) Published in vtdigger on 2/20/24; op-ed article by Matt Vogel, executive director of UVM Hillel In the wake of a landmark settlement with the federal government, there has been a remarkable evolution in visible support for Jewish students. Jewish life at the University of Vermont has improved remarkably since April 3, 2023, when the U.S. […] Highlights Media Coverage
February 20, 2024 Universities denied grieving Jewish students accommodations: civil rights organization (The College Fix) Published 10/25/23 by The College Fix; Story by Terrance Kible. ‘The world is watching,’ human rights group told universities. ‘Will you rise to the occasion?’ Amid rising campus antisemitism, civil rights groups wrote to more than 500 university presidents reminding them of their obligations to Jewish students and demanding protections that reportedly had been denied. Alyza […] Media Coverage
February 15, 2024 Report: Unnecessary for Morningstar to refer to ‘occupied territory’ to assess companies (JNS) Published by JNS on 2/8/24; Story by Mike Wagenheim “If the remaining BDS controversies come off Israeli companies after this, we can finally say that Morningstar is BDS free,” said Rich Goldberg of FDD. Morningstar, an investment firm headquartered in Chicago that manages and advises on about $264 billion in assets, released a comprehensive report on Wednesday […] Highlights Media Coverage
February 7, 2024 Statement on Morningstar report on anti-Israel bias (Jewish Federations of North America) Published 2/7/24 by JFNA’s ‘FedBeat‘ The coalition of organizations that has worked for over two years to remove bias from ratings in Morningstar’s Sustainalytics ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) welcomes the independent expert report released this morning. This coalition along with other stakeholders pressed the company to engage independent experts to evaluate its methodology, and we believe the […] Highlights Media Coverage
February 5, 2024 Some Jewish parents angry and fearful when teachers back Palestinians (Washington Post) Published 2/4/24 in the Washington Post; Story by Laura Meckler In Oakland, Calif., concerns about antisemitism and school culture prompt some Jewish families to leave In New York City, Jewish leaders, teachers and parents demanded that the schools do more to address what they see as antisemitism, staging a rally on the steps of the […] Highlights Media Coverage
February 1, 2024 UPenn faculty blocks main building in pro-Palestinian ‘die-in’ protest in violation of school policy (Washington Examiner) Published 1/31/24 in Washington Examiner. Story by Peter Cordi. A pro-Palestinian University of Pennsylvania faculty group blocked the main entrance to the school’s College Hall during a “die-in” protest to mourn those who have died in Gaza after Israel’s response to Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attack. Approximately 86 school faculty participated in or spectated the protest held by the Ivy […] Highlights Media Coverage
January 24, 2024 Students file antisemitism complaint against AU with Dept. of Education (WRC-TV 4 NBC, Washington, D.C.) Published by WRC-TV 4 NBC Washington, D.C.; Story by Aimee Cho Complaint accuses school of creating hostile environment of antisemitism Several Jewish students filed a civil rights complaint against American University accusing the school of creating a hostile environment of antisemitism on campus. Junior Tomer Ben-Ezer said two FBI agents were in the audience to […] Media Coverage
January 18, 2024 4 More Colleges Face Civil Rights Investigations (Inside Higher Ed) Published 1/18/24 by Inside Higher Ed; Story by Katherine Knott The Education Department has now opened dozens of investigations into antisemitic and other bias-related incidents on college campuses since Oct. 7. But resolutions that could lead to changes are expected to take a while. At the University of Minnesota in October, some faculty members were allowed to post […] Media Coverage
January 16, 2024 Six Jewish students sue Harvard University for discrimination (JNS) Published by JNS on 1/12/24; Story by Andrew Bernard “Harvard is a ripe target for antisemitism litigation,” said Kenneth Marcus, of the Brandeis Center. “No one should be surprised to see this lawsuit filed.” Six Jewish students are suing Harvard University alleging a hostile, antisemitic environment in violation of civil-rights law, the New York law […] Media Coverage
January 9, 2024 Harvard and the Failure of DEI (Aish.com) Published by Aish.com on 1/8/24; Story by Faygie Holt Resignation of Harvard and Penn presidents just a first step to address “double standard” Jewish students face in battling antisemitism on campus. In the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd by a white police office back in May 2020 America had reckoning of sorts with […] Media Coverage
January 8, 2024 Harvard’s federal funding likely isn’t in danger, but it’s leverage for lawmakers to push changes amid controversy (Boston Globe) Published by the Boston Globe on 1/4/24; Story by Jim Puzzanghera Claudine Gay’s resignation as Harvard’s president hasn’t ended the university’s troubles with its congressional critics, who are zeroing in on hundreds of millions of dollars in federal money that flows to Cambridge every year. Gay’s decision to step down has done nothing to deter North […] Media Coverage
January 4, 2024 Alyza Lewin Advocating for Religious Liberty and Protecting Jewish Civil Rights (Washington Jewish Week) Cover story published 1/3/24 by Washington Jewish Week; Story by Braden Hamelin Alyza Lewin, a longtime lawyer, is co-founder and partner at Lewin & Lewin, LLP, and president of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, where she advocates for religious liberty and the rights of the Jewish community. The Kesher Israel […] Media Coverage
January 4, 2024 How the Push for Diversity at Colleges and Companies Came Under Siege (Wall Street Journal) Published by The Wall Street Journal on 1/4/24; Story by Ray A. Smith and Lauren Weber DEI programs have come under fire from many directions The management philosophy known as DEI, which had gathered momentum since 2020, has been under siege over the past year amid a collision of legal, economic and geopolitical forces. The […] Media Coverage
January 3, 2024 Fighting the Hamas Monster on Campus (inFocus) Published by Jewish Policy Center’s inFocus magazine’s winter 2024 issue Editor’s Note: This conversation is excerpted from a panel discussion, “Enriching the U.S.-Israel Alliance by Combating Antisemitism,” at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC on October 23, 2023, even before the full weight of events was felt. Kenneth L. Marcus is the founder and chairman […] Media Coverage
January 2, 2024 Jewish group sues Berkeley for ‘longstanding, unchecked spread of anti-Semitism’ (Campus Reform) Published 12/27/23 by Campus Reform; Story by Patrick McDonald In late November, several Jewish organizations filed a lawsuit against the University of California, Berkeley, alleging a ‘longstanding, unchecked spread of anti-Semitism.’ The lawsuit was filed in a federal court in San Francisco by the Louis D. Brandeis Center and Jewish Americans for Fairness in Education. […] Media Coverage