Laying the Foundation The Brandeis Center was founded in 2011 by Kenneth L. Marcus, a civil rights attorney who recognized the need for an organization that utilizes law-based initiatives to combat anti-Semitism. Mr. Marcus foresaw the escalating anti-Semitism in higher education and understood the importance of harnessing the power of the law to combat the scourge. When universities realize they could face legal liability for failing to protect students from unlawful harassment and discrimination, they become motivated to change the climate on campus. In 2012, LDB launched its legal advocacy initiative to defend the civil rights of Jewish American college students, hiring its first staff attorney. In 2013, LDB began training future lawyers at law school chapters and held its first national law student conference. In 2014, LDB’s white paper, The Morass of Middle East Studies, provided the basis for the coalition that convinced the U.S. Department of Education to adopt new mechanisms to ensure that Middle East Studies programs provide “diverse perspectives and a wide range of views.” In 2015, LDB helped the University of California Regents with their “Statement of Principles Against Intolerance.” That year, LDB’s book, The Definition of Anti-Semitism, laid the groundwork for President Trump’s Executive Order on Anti-Semitism. LDB drafted the first state-level legislation on the IHRA working definition of anti-Semitism, with early success in South Carolina and Bal Harbour. In 2016, LDB filed an anti-BDS lawsuit against the American Studies Association. In 2017, this lawsuit was instrumental in defeating a proposed BDS resolution at the Modern Language Association, a turning point in rolling back such efforts. Setting the Standard In 2018, Marcus left the Brandeis Center to serve as Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights; Alyza D. Lewin was named President in 2018. Lewin established the JIGSAW fellowship to train a select cohort of law students to help undergraduates combat anti-Semitism. In 2020, LDB’s complaint against the University of Illinois led to an important Joint Statement as well as an OCR investigation. In 2020, Marcus returned to the Brandeis Center. Today, Lewin and Marcus co-lead LDB’s programs and initiatives. During the 2020-2021 academic year, LDB successfully defended two prominent Jewish student government leaders, Rose Ritch (USC) and Max Price (Tufts), defending them against attempted impeachment. In 2021, LDB filed a high-profile EEOC anti-Semitism complaint against Stanford University. Also in 2021, LDB grew to include five lawyers. In 2022, LDB negotiated a milestone settlement against Ben & Jerry’s, preventing an unlawful boycott of Israel. LDB’s complaints against Brooklyn College and the University of Vermont led to additional OCR investigations – one of which was settled in a milestone Resolution Agreement. The same year, LDB co-launched with Hillel International a national program to train university administrators in addressing campus anti-Semitism; filed a major complaint against SUNY New Paltz; helped lead the coalition that prompted Morningstar, Inc. to commit to removing anti-Israel bias from its ESG platform; and urged the SEC to implement ESG disclosure requirements that would alert investors to biased ratings. Looking Ahead The Brandeis Center has unparalleled expertise and ability to fight anti-Semitism through civil rights law – from campuses to corporations. When institutions fail to comply with their legal obligations, LDB holds them accountable. For nearly two decades, the Brandeis Center has advanced the most significant legal protections for Jewish Americans. Over the course of the next few years, LDB will be broadly recognized as the premier legal advocacy organization for Jewish Americans who face anti-Semitic discrimination on college campuses and in the workplace. We aspire to achieve broad acceptance of the legal proposition that harassment and discrimination of Jews based on their shared ancestry and ethnicity is anti-Semitic and a form of national and ethnic origin discrimination, including on matters related to Israel.