In a time of rising anti-Semitism across the United States, the Brandeis Center continues to take a strong stand against discrimination and harassment targeting Jewish individuals and communities. From Alyza Lewin’s powerful testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee to newly filed federal complaints and legal actions, the Brandeis Center is actively working to hold institutions accountable and ensure protections for Jewish students and citizens. This update highlights key developments, including investigations into civil rights violations, the Department of Education’s evolving role, and a troubling case of anti-Semitic discrimination at an Oakland café. Read on for more details on these critical efforts to combat anti-Semitism. 

In this issue: 

Investigations Opened into Federal Anti-Semitism Complaints, New Complaints Filed

The Brandeis Center filed three federal complaints with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) against California State Polytechnic, Scripps College, and California’s Etiwanda School district alleging violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

“The law and federal government recognize Jews share a common faith and they are a people with a shared history and heritage rooted in the land of Israel. Schools that continue to ignore either aspect of Jewish identity are becoming dangerous breeding grounds for escalating anti-Jewish bigotry, and they must be held accountable,” said Chairman Kenneth Marcus.

Later in the month, OCR announced it is opening investigations into complaints filed by the Brandeis Center against five schools: Yale University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Scripps College, American University, and the Fulton County School District.

Denise Katz-Prober, director of legal initiatives at the Brandeis Center, commented that “the opening of these investigations does signal that… OCR [is] being active and forceful in addressing the anti-Semitism that’s plaguing so many campuses,” especially in contrast to the backlog of “languishing” Title VI complaints during the Biden administration.

 

Brandeis Center Blocks ALAA From Expelling Jewish and Allied Members Who Stood Up For Israel 

In response to legal action taken by the Brandeis Center, the United Auto Workers (UAW) Public Review Board ruled the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (ALAA) cannot expel four Nassau County Legal Aid attorneys who opposed the ALAA’s virulently anti-Semitic and pro-Hamas resolution. 

The UAW Public Review Board is an outside body established under the UAW constitution to be the final word in interpreting and enforcing the UAW’s constitution. The ALAA (UAW Local 2325) is based in New York. 

Parallel to appealing the ALAA’s expulsion efforts within the UAW’s constitutional process, the Brandeis Center is representing three of the Legal Aid attorneys in a federal lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York. 

“Many ALAA members found the October 7 massacre of Jews exhilarating; they should find this rebuke from the UAW’s own outside review board sobering,” said Hon. Rory Lancman, the Brandeis Center’s Senior Counsel said in a statement. 

Chairman Kenneth Marcus added, “our federal lawsuit details how it is illegal to expel members who stand up for what’s right and oppose anti-Semitism in their union, and now the UAW’s own outside monitor has said that doing so violates the UAW’s own constitution. The board’s ruling is a major victory for union democracy, and, of course, a defeat for anti-Semitism. The Brandeis Center will defend victims of anti-Semitism wherever they are – on campuses, in public schools, in workplaces, or in unions.”

Following the announcement, the U.S. House Committee on Education & Workforce hailed the Brandeis Center’s efforts as a win for justice.

Despite Changes with Dept of Education, Efforts to Combat Anti-Semitism Remain Strong 

After President Trump officially signed an executive order eliminating the Department of Education, Kenneth

Marcus noted in JNS that “even with a reduced footprint, the U.S. Department of Education is clearly capable of handling anti-Semitism more effectively than it has in the past.” 

The move comes amidst significant pressure from the administration on universities, including recent announcements of the revocation of federal grants and threats of further funding cuts at Columbia unless they implement substantial reforms. In response to the announcements at Columbia, Marcus told the Washington Post, “this is the toughest stance we’ve seen from the federal government toward campus anti-Semitism ever… [it’s] simply unbelievable.” We are seeing the Trump administration “moving faster and punching harder” to effect change, Mr. Marcus told AP News, sending strong warning signals to schools around the country.

 

Alyza Lewin Testifies at Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing 

On March 5, Brandeis Center President Alyza Lewin testified at the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing, “Never to be Silent: Stemming the Tide of Antisemitism in America,”the first convened specifically to address anti-Semitism since the terror attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023. 

In her opening testimony, Ms. Lewin emphasized, “what’s taking place on campus is not a good faith political debate. It is the vilification of Jews.” She highlighted how Jewish students across the country are being harassed, excluded, and targeted simply for expressing their Jewish identity, which for many Jews includes their ancestral connection to the land of Israel. Lewin stressed that universities must be held accountable for allowing environments where Jewish students feel unsafe, calling for stronger enforcement of protections and institutional consequences for schools that fail to act. Read more about her testimony in this blog post and watch her full opening testimony here: 

Erasive Anti-Semitism at Dickinson College 

In a powerful address at Dickinson College, Alyza Lewin explored the phenomenon of erasive anti-Semitism and how, to address it, we must first understand Jewish identity and how anti-Semitism works. 

“Today, Jews who define their identity as part of a people with a shared history and heritage rooted in the land of Israel, are often demonized as “Zionists,” treated as pariahs, and told that they are not welcome. 

It’s not possible to separate the ancestral history and heritage of the Jewish people from the land of Israel. Israel is where the identity of the Jewish people was cemented. To be a Zionist means you recognize and celebrate the Jewish people’s connection to one another — and the Jewish people’s deep-rooted tie to the land of Israel.”

Read the address in JNS here, or watch it below:

Man Kicked Out of Oakland Café for Being Jewish Sues Owner 

The Brandeis Center filed a lawsuit against the Jerusalem Coffee House on behalf of its client, a man who was ejected, along with his five-year-old son, because he is Jewish. This is the first lawsuit brought by the Brandeis Center’s recently launched Center for Legal Innovation.

Video footage shows the owner of the coffee shop verbally attacking the plaintiff, ordering him to leave for wearing a “violent hat,” which depicted a white Jewish Star. In a statement, Senior Counsel Omer Wiczyk said, “we look forward to educating the Defendants — and anyone that shares their distorted views — in a court of law. In the United States of America, a business cannot refuse to serve someone because they are Jewish… the fact that this needs to be said in 2025 is a frightening reminder of the growing anti-Semitism that far too many have experienced in recent years.” 

February has been a short but busy and impactful month for the Brandeis Center. We proudly launched the Center for Legal Innovation, designed to advance legal strategies that protect civil rights and combat all forms of anti-Semitism. We are getting started by representing a father who faced anti-Semitic discrimination while he was with his son at a California coffee shop. Also this month, we secured an important settlement in our case against Santa Ana Public Schools, which are now prevented from teaching anti-Semitic ethnic studies material. Experts from the Brandeis Center continue to educate the community to ensure that Jewish and Israeli individuals understand their rights and where they can turn to for support. You can catch up on past events or join us for the next event in your area.

In this issue:

The Brandeis Center Launches Public Interest Law Firm to Specialize in Anti-Semitism Litigation
A new public interest litigation group within the Brandeis Center, the Center for Legal Innovation (CLI), will use the law to combat all forms of anti-Semitism, such as anti-Semitism that occurs in such sectors as the workplace, housing, healthcare, public accommodations, government services, unions, academia, and corporations. 

“The American Jewish community needs a public interest law firm that takes litigation efforts beyond education-focused Title VI complaints to a host of other areas where Jews are being unfairly and illegally discriminated against and harassed. This means standing up for individual victims as well as going after groups, companies, and organizations that are funding, organizing, and enabling illegal anti-Semitic activity. We have learned from history that we cannot sit idly by. The law is on our side, and we will use it against those threatening Jewish people’s constitutional rights,” shared Brandeis Center Founder and Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus. 

CLI is also guided by an expert advisory board, and its litigators include former criminal prosecutors, heads of prominent litigation departments, and leading experts in constitutional and civil rights law.

 

Oakland Father Suing Coffee Shop Over Anti-Semitic Discrimination


In one of CLI’s first cases, the Brandeis Center is representing a Jewish father who, along with his 5-year-old son, was kicked out of an Oakland café for wearing a Star of David hat. The Brandeis Center is preparing to file a lawsuit against the Jerusalem Coffee House, alleging civil rights violations on behalf of plaintiff Jonathan Hirsch. As Senior Counsel Omer Wiczyk stated, “This is America. You don’t get to refuse service to Jews.”

Santa Ana Public Schools Prevented from Teaching Anti-Semitic Ethnic Studies

As part of a settlement that resolves the lawsuit brought by the Brandeis Center and partner organizations, Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) will cease instruction of courses that contained false and damaging narratives about Israel and the Jewish people, including anti-Semitic content. 

“Ethnic studies should never become a vehicle for sneaking dangerous, anti-Semitic materials into our schools. That is the law, plain and simple, and we’re glad to have stopped this in Santa Ana schools” said Brandeis Center Vice Chair L. Rachel Lerman.

Marci Miller, Director of Legal Investigations, added, “we hope this is a cautionary tale to all the districts in California and anyone else who’s hoping to infuse ethnic studies with antisemitism, especially if they’re doing it in secret.” The Brandeis Center thanks the partnership from ADL, AJC, StandWithUs, and Covington & Burling LLP on this important case.

 

The Brandeis Center Commends OCR Investigations into Anti-Semitism
 The Brandeis Center applauded the announcement by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) that it has proactively launched investigations into anti-Semitism at five higher education campuses. 

“This is exactly the right step to be taking and the right time to be taking it. The administration is sending a clear message to the higher education community that the U.S. Department of Education is prioritizing the current anti-Semitism crisis,” said Kenneth L. Marcus, Founder and Chairman of the Brandeis Center and the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights who ran OCR for Presidents Bush and Trump. “Rather than sitting back and waiting for complaints to pile up, federal investigators are finally doing their jobs: identifying colleges that need to be investigated, and taking firm, public measures where needed. The cavalry has arrived. The Brandeis Center has been urging this approach since October 7, 2023, and we were repeatedly disappointed that the prior administration failed to accept our recommendation.” 

OCR announced its investigations will target a variety of universities, both public and private, ivies and non-ivies, from geographically diverse regions. Some, like UC Berkeley and Columbia University, are clearly ripe for investigation following public attention to the rampant and ongoing anti-Semitic activity on those campuses. Other universities that OCR is investigating have remained under the public radar which underscores not only the pervasive nature of campus anti-Semitism, but also OCR’s attention to Jewish students throughout the country, at all universities, not just a handful of prominent ones. The Brandeis Center is encouraged to see the Trump administration take early, affirmative steps that reach beyond the Biden administrations reactive responses to OCR complaints. 

Upcoming Event: Stand Up to Anti-Semitism in Brooklyn Public Schools


On Tuesday, March 12 at 6:00 PM, join attorneys from the Brandeis Center’s new Center for Legal Innovation, along with Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, to learn about your rights and pro-bono resources.  With the rise in anti-Semitism, far too many students and their families have been victims of anti-Semitic discrimination, whether in schools or outside them. The lawyers at the Center for Legal Innovation, a non-profit organization recently assembled as part of the Brandeis Center’s work to combat anti-Semitic discrimination and harassment, are available to provide pro-bono legal support and counsel to victims of anti-Semitism and to educate students about their rights under the law.  SIGN UP HERE to join us for a meeting about anti-Semitism in Brooklyn public schools and to learn about the resources and support available to you. This event is open to students, parents, or others affiliated with any Brooklyn, NY public schools. 

Alyza Lewin at Touro Law Center

Earlier this month, Brandeis Center’s President Alyza Lewin spoke at Touro Law Center’s two-day symposium on “Academics, Lawyers & Government – Who’s Leading Higher Education in the 21st Century?” In a panel about discrimination in higher education, Lewin offered remarks on anti-Semitism on college campuses and how the growing problem has impacted students today. Watch her full remarks here:

Only one month into the new year, we are already attacking anti-Semitism with renewed energy: holding one of the most prestigious universities accountable and thereby setting a new standard for other institutions to follow; ensuring other professional sectors, like financial services and legal aid, eliminate bias against Jews and Zionists; and defending the language we need to institutionalize to fight anti-Semitism across America.

In this issue:

2024 Year in Review

In 2024, the Brandeis Center fought for the civil rights of Jewish people and defended students on college campuses, children in K-12 education, and others across America who faced anti-Semitism. We held universities and administrators accountable to protect Jewish students, reached settlements that will ensure safer spaces for Jews, and educated groups ranging from local advocates to leaders in our federal government on the pernicious nature of anti-Semitism and how we must fight it.

We invite you to look back at our 2024 year in review: 

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2024 EOY Video

Harvard Agrees to Settle Title VI Litigation with the Brandeis Center and Jewish Americans for Fairness in Education 

On January 21, the Brandeis Center and Jewish Americans for Fairness in Education announced that they reached an agreement to resolve their claims against Harvard University. As part of the settlement, Harvard agreed to implement a series of steps, building on

measures that Harvard has undertaken over the past year as a part of its commitment to combating anti-Semitism. Harvard and the Brandeis Center look forward to working together in these efforts.

In a federal lawsuit filed last May, the Brandeis Center alleged Harvard left “cruel anti-Semitic bullying, harassment, and discrimination” unaddressed for years before and after the Hamas attacks. Kenneth L. Marcus, founder and chairman of the Brandeis Center, expressed optimism about the settlement, sharing that “we are heartened that Harvard has agreed to take numerous important steps necessary to creating a welcoming environment for Jewish students.”

Legal Aid Attorneys Fight to Continue Suit Over Union’s Anti-Semitic Discrimination

In 2024, the Brandeis Center filed a federal District Court complaint against the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, UAW Local 2325 (ALAA) and individual union officials for undertaking acts to expel and discipline two Jewish and one Non-Jewish ally from the union – in retaliation for their lawsuit opposing the ALAA’s anti-Semitic discriminatory practices manifested in the now infamous ALAA resolution attacking Israel soon after the October 7 terror attacks.

This month, the Brandeis Center filed a response motion on behalf of the plaintiffs, asking the judge to deny a motion filed by the union to dismiss the suit.

Rory Lancman, Director of Corporate Initiatives and Senior Counsel, emphasized that the plaintiffs are “not backing down,” adding that “three courageous legal services attorneys, two Jewish and one Christian ally, stood up for themselves, their Jewish clients, and, indeed, the true values of their union itself, to oppose

a fervor of anti-Semitism that engulfed the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys since October 7th, for which the union tried to expel them. As our recent filing illustrates, we are confident that federal labor law and federal, state, and local anti-discrimination laws are on their side.” The legal aid attorneys are represented by Lancman and Paul Eckles, Senior Litigation Counsel at the Brandeis Center.

Morningstar Removes Anti-Israel Bias from ESG Ratings

Following extensive advocacy from Jewish and pro-Israel groups, including the Brandeis Center, financial services firm Morningstar implemented changes to remove anti-Israel bias that influenced its ESG investment ratings. For years, the Brandeis Center and its partners have called for reforms to ensure objective, reliable, and useful financial products. As a result, Morningstar has removed anti-Israel bias in Morningstar’s ESG product, following an expert report outlining comprehensive guidelines. The Center’s Rachel Lerman, who worked directly with Morningstar executives, says, “We salute Morningstar for its efforts to make its product more objective and reliable, and we look forward to persuading others in the finance industry to follow suit.” Learn more about the changes in JNS.

Lessons Learned from the Legal Battle Against Campus Anti-Semitism

In the latest issue of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance’s Journal, Brandeis Center president Alyza Lewin outlined her lessons learned from the legal battle against campus anti-Semitism, including the lesson that what is taking place on campus (and beyond) is not a good-faith political debate, but rather the vilification, marginalization, and shunning of Jews. Read all of her lessons learned here.

Defining Anti-Semitism: When Criticism of Israel Becomes Anti-Semitism

When does criticism of Israel cross the line into anti-Semitism? How do we define anti-Semitism, and why does it matter? In this panel discussion, Brandeis Center president Alyza Lewin speaks in support of adopting the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism, and what’s really happening when we hear people scapegoat Jews today. This discussion is moderated by Ben Sales (JTA) and also joined by Rabbi Jill Jacobs and Prof. Susannah Heschel who have supported the Jerusalem Declaration and Nexus definitions.

Watch the full conversation here: 

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Defining Anti-Semitism with Alyza Lewin

Lawsuit claims school officials were ‘infected by antisemitism’

Published by Fox News on 8/29/24; Story by Kendall Tietz

A California school allegedly attempted to cover up its “antisemitic” ethnic studies program, according to a lawsuit filed by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). 

The Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) is accused of intentionally violating the Brown Act, California’s open meetings laws, to develop and approve antisemitic curriculum “under the radar,” according to a motion filed in the lawsuit, the ADL announced on Monday. The lawsuit, originally filed in September 2023, was brought against SAUSD on behalf of The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, which works to advance the civil and human rights of the Jewish people, and its membership arm, Southern Californians for Unbiased Education (So-CUE). 

The ADL, along with the Brandeis Center, the American Jewish Committee (AJC) and the Covington & Burling law firm filed the motion with new evidence that it claims supports its allegations that the school district prevented the public, in particular the Jewish community, from providing public comment to prevent antisemitic and biased content in its ethnic studies curricula. A hearing in the case is scheduled for Sept. 19. 

Under the Brown Act and AB 101, which was passed in 2021 and made ethnic studies a requirement for graduation from all public high schools in California, school boards must make the public aware of the course’s proposed curricula and allow for public comment before approving any new content. 

The lawsuit, the ACLU claims, is aimed at preventing antisemitic content from being taught in SAUSD while the school board goes through the process of course approval. The lawsuit also asks the court to declare that SAUSD violated the Brown Act, bar the district from teaching unlawfully approved courses and order school officials to follow open meeting laws going forward. 

Examples uncovered in the discovery period of the lawsuit show that members of SAUSD’s Ethnic Studies Steering Committee noted in an official agenda that it needed to “address the Jewish question” when they learned about antisemitism concerns from the Jewish community, according to the motion. SAUSD officials also reportedly floated the idea of using Jewish holidays to approve courses to reduce the likelihood that Jews would attend school board meetings. 

James Pasch, ADL senior director of national litigation, told Fox News Digital that open, public meetings are required by law to prevent these exact situations.

“Instead of welcoming input from the community as the way governing bodies can do, should do and are required to do under California state law, they saw Jews as an obstacle to exclude in the process,” he said. “As a direct consequence of that exclusion, there is now anti-Israel, anti-Jewish content in the ethnic studies curricula. At the end of the day, what we are asking for, what is required under the law is for a seat at the table.”

CALIFORNIA STUDENTS REQUIRED TO LEARN ‘ETHNIC STUDIES’ FACE DEBATE OVER GAZA WAR, UNDERSTANDING JEWS AS WHITE

“The curriculum passed, so there’s ongoing harm, and we’re asking the court to step in to stop and go back to the starting line, where there is an open process from the beginning and that the ethnic studies curricula could be passed based on facts and truth,” he added. 

L. Rachel Lerman, general counsel of the Brandeis Center, which is both a plaintiff and counsel in the case, indicated that the situation in Santa Ana seems to be a problem throughout the education system, specifically in California, where she believes “there’s a lack of transparency at many levels.”

At the state level, California created a model Ethnic Studies curriculum that was approved for use after the first two versions were deemed too antisemitic following public outcry, she explained. But schools in California don’t have to use the model curriculum, they can create their own as long as it stays within the confines of the law. 

 “You’re not supposed to be violating the anti-discrimination laws, you’re not supposed to be putting back into the class what was taken out of the earlier curricula that were rejected,” she said. “But a lot of activists were determined to bring that stuff right back in.”

Senior members of the Steering Committee, which was in charge of developing the curriculum, reportedly stated: “Jews are not a disadvantaged ethnic group in the U.S. because they were never slaves,” that “Jews greatly benefit from white privilege, so they have it better,” and “we don’t need to give both sides. We only support the oppressed, and Jews are the oppressors,” according to the motion. 

That same committee also hired an external consultant whose social media musings equated Israel with “settler colonialism” and actively promoted anti-Israel bias and antisemitism, according to the motion. “Israel is nothing more than European settler colonialism draped in religion defended by white guilt and capitalism,” the consultant espoused on social media. 

CALIF. PARENTS SLAM ‘DIVISIVE ETHNIC STUDIES CURRICULUM: ‘TEACHING THEM TO BE HATEFUL TOWARDS PEOPLE’

According to the motion, one committee leader allegedly referred to the sole Jewish member as a “colonized Jewish mind” and a “f—ing baby” for expressing concerns over antisemitism, while another leader referred to the Jewish Federation of Orange County as “racist Zionists” and suggested that SAUSD should not “cave” to their representatives. That same representative reportedly refused to call Hamas a terrorist organization even after the October 7 terrorist attack at the hands of Hamas, arguing that it would be “dehumaniz[ing]” to call Hamas members “terrorists.” 

Jewish staff at SAUSD reportedly complained about the “thinly veiled antisemitism” coming from Steering Committee leaders and were “hurt by some of the things” they “said about Jews,” according to the motion. When members of the community discovered the reported covert actions of the school board to approve the material, they appeared at a meeting to publicly comment but were harassed with antisemitic rhetoric. 

NEA SOCIAL JUSTICE TRAINER ADMIT CRITICAL RACE THEORY IN K-12 DESPITE CLAIMS BY UNION BOSS BECKY PRINGLE

SAUSD told Fox News Digital that the case will soon be heard in court, where the district will “defend its action of approving certain Ethnic Studies courses mandated by California’s legislature as new graduation requirements.”

“It has been alleged in a lawsuit filed against the District that it violated state law in two respects: (1) it failed to adhere to the ‘open meeting’ requirements set out in what is called the Brown Act in approving the courses and (2) certain materials offered to teachers as resources in teaching the courses in question are unlawfully biased in that they portray the State of Israel and the Jewish community in a negative way,” the statement said. “The District denies these claims and will present counter arguments and facts to the Court for consideration and is optimistic that the Court will ultimately find in favor of the District.”

Marci Lerner Miller, the director of legal investigations at the Brandeis Center, told Fox News Digital that the evidence that SAUSD broke California law is “overwhelming.”

“The case has wide implications because it serves as an example of really extreme measures taken to keep things from the public eye, which is really what the Brown Act and AB101 were intended to prevent,” she said. “We see what happens when things are taken out of public view, things like antisemitism are rampant.”

Pasch said the ADL is “disappointed” that the district “remains unrepentant regarding its violations of state law and the deeply offensive and anti-Semitic statements made by district officials.”

“Our evidence is based primarily on the district’s own records, and we look forward to laying out that evidence to the court in this case,” he said. 

August 26, 2024 (Santa Ana, Calif.): Motion filed supports allegations that SAUSD intentionally violated the Brown Act, California’s open meetings laws, to develop and approve antisemitic curriculum “under the radar.”

Santa Ana, Calif., August 26, 2024… ADL (the Anti-Defamation League), The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, AJC (the American Jewish Committee), and Covington & Burling announced today that they filed a motion adding supporting evidence to the suit they filed in September 2023 on behalf of the Brandeis Center and its membership arm, So-CUE (Southern Californians for Unbiased Education), against the Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) for violations of California’s open meetings laws.

Evidence uncovered during discovery supports the Plaintiffs’ allegations that the Board kept information about proposed ethnic studies courses “under the radar” (in the words of one employee) to prevent the public, and the Jewish community in particular, from becoming aware of antisemitic and unlawfully biased content in ethnic studies curricula. For example:

  • When members of SAUSD’s Ethnic Studies Steering Committee were apprised of the Jewish community’s concerns about antisemitism in ethnic studies plans, they noted in an official agenda that they would need to “address the Jewish question.”
  • Senior officials mused about using Jewish holidays to approve courses at the Board level to prevent Jews from attending.
  • The Steering Committee hired an external consultant whose writings equate Israel with “settler colonialism” and who uses social media to actively promote anti-Israel bias with antisemitic tropes, including a post about “Zionist control of the CA Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum” and a comment that the Legislative Jewish Caucus needs to “stay in their lane,” claiming “the Zionist CA Jewish Caucus hijacked Ethnic Studies,” as well as “a small white minority” should not “dictate a curriculum that is not about them.”
  • A Committee leader referred to the only Jewish member as a “colonized Jewish mind” and a “f—ing baby” for expressing concerns over antisemitism on the Committee.
  • An SAUSD Board member suggested that Jewish Americans do not belong in ethnic studies because they are “racialized as under the White category.”
  • A Committee leader referred to the Jewish Federation of Orange County as “racist Zionists” and suggested SAUSD should not “cave” to their representatives.
  • Members of the Steering Committee reportedly said, “Jews are not a disadvantaged ethnic group in the U.S. because they were never slaves,” that “Jews greatly benefit from white privilege, so they have it better,” and “we don’t need to give both sides. We only support the oppressed, and Jews are the oppressors.”
  • Jewish staff members at SAUSD wrote about how they were “sick” of the “thinly veiled antisemitism” coming from Committee leaders and were “hurt by some of things” they “said about Jews.”

Under the Brown Act (California’s open meeting laws) and AB 101 (the 2021 statute making ethnic studies a requirement for graduation from public high schools), California school boards are required to take specific steps to make members of the public aware of proposed curricula and allow for public comment.

The motion and supporting evidence proves that SAUSD knowingly circumvented these laws to approve curricula with dangerously anti-Jewish teachings before the public became aware of them. The lawsuit asks the court to declare that SAUSD violated the Brown Act, to bar SAUSD from teaching courses that were unlawfully approved, and to order SAUSD to follow open meeting laws going forward so that new ethnic studies courses are not pushed through without community input.

“Both the Brown Act and AB 101 require transparency and opportunity for public comment on proposed ethnic studies curricula that deviate from the state-approved model curriculum,” said L. Rachel Lerman, General Counsel of the Brandeis Center, which is both a plaintiff and counsel in this matter. “Governor Newsom swore that biased and antisemitic content taken out of early (and disapproved) versions of the model curriculum would ‘never see the light of day.’ He did not mean that this content should be snuck back in under cover of darkness, but that appears to be what has occurred.”

“Open meetings are required by law specifically to prevent this type of situation,” said James Pasch, ADL Senior Director of National Litigation. “As the evidence shows, the district intentionally hid information from the public, to try to get away with teaching antisemitic lies to the next generation in Santa Ana. The antisemitism that infected this process sent a clear message to Jewish students and families that their voices are not welcomed, and that they were intentionally excluded.”

“This is not speculation. Discovery in this case has revealed a persistent pattern of antisemitism in the steering committee,” said American Jewish Committee Chief Legal Officer Marc Stern. “Antisemitism has no place in any governmental body and it is doubly concerning when it involves children and their education. That proponents of this proposal made a concerted effort to hide their antisemitism is yet further evidence that they knew what they were doing was wrong and did not want it disclosed publicly.”

“As Justice Louis D. Brandeis famously observed, ‘sunlight is the best disinfectant.’ The shocking evidence our team has uncovered shows that SAUSD deliberately tried to keep the public in the dark about the extreme biases and antisemitism that infected the District’s ethnic studies curriculum. In doing so, SAUSD violated State law,” said Dan Shallman, lead counsel from Covington & Burling LLP. “We look forward to making our case in court that SAUSD’s actions must not stand. We are proud to stand with our partners at the ADL, the Brandeis Center, and AJC, in seeking to hold SAUSD accountable.”

ADL, the Brandeis Center, AJC, and Covington & Burling serve as the plaintiffs’ counsel for this case. A hearing is scheduled for September 19, 2024.

ADL Contact:           

Laura Fennell, lfennell@adl.org, 310-633-1435

Brandeis Center Contact:

Jake Sporn, jake@tuskstrategies.com, 516-946-5253

AJC Contact:

Steve Gosset, mediacomms@ajc.org, 212-891-1363

Covington & Burling Contact:

David Schaefer, dschaefer@cov.com, 202-662-6687

ADL is the leading anti-hate organization in the world. Founded in 1913, its timeless mission is “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.” Today, ADL continues to fight all forms of antisemitism and bias, using innovation and partnerships to drive impact. A global leader in combating antisemitism, countering extremism and battling bigotry wherever and whenever it happens, ADL works to protect democracy and ensure a just and inclusive society for all. More at www.adl.org.

The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law is an independent, unaffiliated, nonprofit corporation established to advance the civil and human rights of the Jewish people and promote justice for all. LDB engages in research, education, and legal advocacy to combat the resurgence of anti-Semitism in educational institutions and beyond. It empowers students by training them to understand their legal rights and educates administrators and employers on best practices to combat racism and anti-Semitism. (The Brandeis Center is not affiliated with the Massachusetts university, the Kentucky law school, or any of the other institutions that share the name and honor the memory of the late U.S. Supreme Court justice.) See www.brandeiscenter.com.

AJC is the global advocacy organization for the Jewish people. With headquarters in New York, 25 offices across the United States, 14 overseas posts, as well as partnerships with 38 Jewish community organizations worldwide, AJC’s mission is to enhance the well-being of the Jewish people and Israel, and to advance human rights and democratic values in the United States and around the world.

In an increasingly regulated world, Covington & Burling LLP provides corporate, litigation, and regulatory expertise to help clients navigate their most complex business problems, deals, and disputes. Founded in 1919, the firm has more than 1,300 lawyers in offices in Beijing, Boston, Brussels, Dubai, Frankfurt, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, New York, Palo Alto, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai, and Washington.  Covington is honored to serve as pro bono counsel for Petitioners in this matter.  The firm is frequently recognized for pro bono service, including 12 times being ranked the number one pro bono practice in the U.S. by The American Lawyer. Much of our pro bono work is anchored in meeting local needs, serving economically disadvantaged individuals and families in our surrounding communities, but the firm also has a long history of serving vulnerable clients and important causes throughout the U.S. and the world. #####

Summer has not slowed the Brandeis Center (LDB) down. In August, LDB sued the U.S. Department of Education for unlawfully dismissing LDB’s Title VI complaint against the University of Pennsylvania only weeks after opening an anti-Semitism investigation. LDB also sued the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (ALAA) Union for retaliating against Jewish and Non-Jewish members opposing its anti-Semitic practices. And LDB filed a brief opposing UC Berkeley’s motion to dismiss our lawsuit against UC Berkeley over its “longstanding, unchecked spread of anti-Semitism.”

Brandeis Center Sues the U.S. Dept. of Education

The Brandeis Center and its membership organization, Jewish Americans for Fairness in Education (JAFE), filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Dept. of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for failing to follow its own procedures in dismissing the Brandeis Center’s November 2023 complaint against the University of Pennsylvania for fostering an environment of anti-Semitism on its campus – an abdication of its responsibility to thoroughly investigate instances of egregious anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination that occur in potential violation of OCR’s anti-discrimination standards and the Administrative Procedure Act.

“By failing to follow its own administrative procedures, in violation of its own stated mission of ‘vigorous enforcement of civil rights,’ the Office for Civil Rights and the Department of Education overall have not only shown a blatant disregard for the wellbeing of Jewish students at the University of Pennsylvania, but for the due process entitled to every American who seeks relief from discrimination in educational institutions,” declared Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus. “Jewish students at UPenn and many other college campuses across the country increasingly continue to face an egregious amount of anti-Semitism, particularly after the Oct. 7 massacre. OCR’s decisions have crippled these students’ ability to seek remedy from these hostilities and allows certain colleges and universities to continue ignoring or even fostering anti-Semitism on their campus.”

Brandeis Center Sues Association of Legal Aid Attorneys Union

The Brandeis Center and law firm Lieb at Law filed a federal District Court complaint against the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, UAW Local 2325 (“the ALAA”) and individual union officials for undertaking acts to expel and otherwise discipline two Jewish and one Non-Jewish ally from the union, in retaliation for their lawsuit opposing the ALAA’s anti-Semitic discriminatory practices manifested in the now infamous ALAA resolution attacking Israel soon after the October 7 terror attacks.

The resolution opposed by the plaintiffs was so vile that several non-profit legal services providers employing ALAA’s members denounced it as anti-Semitic and unrepresentative of their values, including plaintiffs’ employer, the Legal Aid Society of Nassau County, as well as The Legal Aid Society and the New York Legal Assistance Group.

“Zionism is integral to Jewish identity, but plaintiffs – proud unionists who have dedicated their professional lives to serving poor and disadvantaged clients – didn’t need to be Zionists, or in one case, even Jewish, to understand that anti-Semitism is antithetical both to their obligations as lawyers and to the mission of a union responsible for representing the interests of all its members,” proclaimed Brandeis Center Director of Corporate Initiatives and Senior Counsel Rory Lancman.

Brandeis Center Opposes UC Berkeley’s Motion to Dismiss Suit

LDB and its membership subsidiary JAFE filed an opposition brief in response to UC Berkeley motion to dismiss LDB’s lawsuit over the university’s “longstanding, unchecked spread of anti-Semitism.”

“Defendants paint the suit as one alleging a series of discrete incidents. Wrong — it is a suit alleging defendants’ failure to respond in any meaningful way to a longstanding hostile environment,” wrote LDB in its opposition brief.

UC Berkeley argued in June that the case should be tossed because the university had not had time to internally address some of the incidents cited as evidence of anti-Semitism in the suit, including a tent encampment and the blockade of a gate on campus. Prior to the school’s attempt to dismiss the suit, LDB expanded its complaint to include even more anti-Semitic activity on campus, which UC Berkeley still has not addressed.

“Amazingly, the UC Berkeley regents have the nerve to claim that they shouldn’t be held accountable because they haven’t had enough time to investigate the situation,” said Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus.

“They got the facts and the law wrong,” stated LDB General Counsel L. Rachel Lerman, who added that it is “abundantly clear” the plaintiffs have valid claims and UC Berkeley is “mistaken” in its argument. With anti-Semitic activity on campus likely to escalate once classes resume next month, Lerman explained that the court cannot give the school even more time to pursue its ineffective strategies. Pointing to comments made by UC President Michael Drake in November 2023 stating that students have faced “outright violence,” Lerman said: “Usually you would expect an immediate response at that point.”

Alyza Lewin Features in Touro University Webinar

Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin was among the featured panelists in Touro University’s Touro Talks 2024 Distinguished Lecture Series, “Antisemitism on College Campuses and Beyond.”

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View President Lewin’s conversation with U.S. District Judge, Honorable Roy K. Altman, Touro University President Dr. Alan Kadish, and ‘Touro Talks’ Director Nahum Twersky.

LDB Holds Capitol Hill Policy Briefing on Disturbing Trend: Retaliation Against Jewish Whistleblowers Exposing Campus Anti-Semitism

The Brandeis Center hosted a July 10 Capitol Hill policy briefing titled “Retaliation Against Jewish Students and Parents: How Counter-complaints and Baseless Accusations are Being Weaponized to Silence Jewish Voices on Campus.” The event highlighted disturbing accounts of anti-Semitism alongside troubling and derelict administrative responses. Brandeis Center Board Member Tevi Troy served as moderator, and Brandeis Center Senior Counsel Mark Goldfeder, Staff Attorney Deena Margolies, and Staff Attorney Ben Alkon all presented as panelists.

Emory and American University students, and the parent of a child enrolled in the Berkeley Unified School District shared their personal experiences with university administrators – who were indifferent to campus anti-Semitism and allowed baseless counter-complaints against the Jewish students to proceed.

In her concluding remarks, Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin explained that the experiences shared by the student and parent panelists are not isolated instances but are emblematic of a systematic effort to delegitimize and chill claims of anti-Semitism. She stressed the important responsibility universities have to recognize and dismiss such malicious complaints and highlighted the definition of anti-Semitism as a vital tool for distinguishing between good-faith political debates and anti-Semitism.

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Read more about the policy briefing from Brandeis Center Intern Nicole Hirschkorn and watch the recorded briefing here.

Brandeis Center Hires Senior Litigator Kami Z. Barker

Accomplished trial attorney, disability policy advisor, and former intergovernmental lobbyist Kami Z. Barker joins the Brandeis Center as its newest senior litigator as part of its continued expansion.

“The Brandeis Center is happy to welcome Kami and looks forward to seeing her contributions to fighting the onslaught of anti-Semitism in our educational systems,” said LDB Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus. “Kami is joining our team when the demand for our legal services is higher than ever,” said Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin.

“It’s my privilege to join the Brandeis Center’s fight to ensure that no one is forced to tolerate hate speech on campus or in the workforce,” affirmed Ms. Barker.

In response to the growing demand for our services, the Brandeis Center continues to expand its team, initiatives, and policy-driven work. LDB will continue to hire legal and other staff throughout 2024. Professionals with strong experience and interest in joining LDB’s efforts to combat anti-Semitism are encouraged to watch the opportunities section of LDB’s website – and subscribe to the organization’s mailing list.

Kenneth Marcus to Feature in American Jewish University Webinar July 30: “Using Law to Fight Antisemitism on College Campuses”

Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus will feature in an American Jewish University webinar on July 30, exploring the utility of using Title VI and other civil rights laws to fight anti-Semitism on college campuses.

The event is free, and we encourage you to register for what will surely be an engrossing conversation between Chairman Marcus and AJU President Jeffrey Herbst.

Brandeis Center Interns

The Brandeis Center’s summer interns have been busy writing about the latest developments in the fight against anti-Semitism. Jonah Feuerstein authored two new blog posts chronicling the testimony of LDB clients before Congress. Nicole Hirschkorn authored two more posts, one detailing LDB’s latest policy briefing, and another covering the recently issued “Global Guidelines for Countering Antisemitism,” to which the U.S. is a party. Eli Goldstein authored the press release announcing the hiring of Kami Z. Barker.

The Brandeis Center is Hiring

The Brandeis Center is hiring for multiple full-time positions:

Duties, qualifications, and compensation are listed in the Opportunities section of our website.

If you meet the qualifications and are passionate about our mission to advance the civil and human rights of the Jewish people and promote justice for all, we want to hear from you. Interested candidates should send resumes and cover letters by electronic mail to info@brandeiscenter.com. For the attorney roles, we suggest also including a writing sample and list of references.

Published 7/16/24 by Law360; Story by Jake Maher

Jewish organizations suing the University of California, Berkeley, and its law school for allegedly tolerating an antisemitic culture on campus fought to keep their suit alive this week in the face of a motion to dismiss, maintaining their claims are ripe despite UC Berkeley’s “bold misreading” of the case.

UC Berkeley argued in June that the case should be tossed because the university had not had time to internally address some of the incidents cited as evidence of antisemitism in the suit, such as a tent encampment and the blockade of a gate on campus protesting Israel’s military efforts in Gaza.

But the Jewish organizations told a California federal court in an opposition brief Monday that Jewish students have long faced a “constant drumbeat” of connected hostile incidents that the school has failed to effectively address.

“Defendants paint the suit as one alleging a series of discrete incidents. Wrong — it is a suit alleging defendants’ failure to respond in any meaningful way to a longstanding hostile environment,” the Louis D. Brandeis Center and Jewish Americans for Fairness in Education wrote in their opposition brief.

“They got the facts and the law wrong,” added L. Rachel Lerman, general counsel for the Brandeis Center, in a Tuesday interview with Law360 Pulse.

She said that, assuming all facts in the complaint are true, it is “abundantly clear” that the plaintiffs have stated a claim and that UC Berkeley is “mistaken” in its ripeness argument: The situation at UC Berkeley is continuing to get worse, with issues possibly on the horizon in the new school year, Lerman said, so the court cannot give the school even more time to pursue its ineffective strategies.

Lerman pointed to comments made by University of California President Michael Drake in November 2023 stating that students have faced “outright violence.”

“Usually you would expect an immediate response at that point,” Lerman said.

In court papers, the plaintiffs also pushed back on UC Berkeley’s argument that handling the dispute in court would restrict free speech and effectively put the court in charge of administrative functions on campus. Antisemitic speech is not legally protected, the plaintiffs countered, and they are not demanding specific remedies but rather for the court to make UC Berkeley live up to its own antidiscrimination policies.

“While the law protects universities from judicial interference with campus administration by allowing the university to select the means to curtail a hostile environment, it does not permit universities to select responses that are demonstrably ineffective,” the plaintiffs wrote in Monday’s opposition brief. The plaintiffs’ original complaint from November accused UC Berkeley of fostering the “long-standing, unchecked spread of antisemitism” by allowing student groups to use their bylaws to ban those who hold Zionist views — which they argued violates the U.S. Constitution and federal anti-discrimination laws.

The plaintiff groups amended their complaint in May to include claims stemming from more recent events on campus, including a blockade of Sather Gate and what they described as a riot at an event featuring an Israeli Defense Force officer in February. They also alleged that a group known as Law Students for Justice in Palestine conducted an antisemitic harassment campaign against Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law.

UC Berkeley moved to dismiss the case on the grounds that the plaintiffs were seeking to turn a dispute over student group bylaws into an “open forum for litigating incidents at UC Berkeley as they hit the news,” in many cases before the school had had a chance to respond to those incidents.

UC Berkeley further claimed that the complaint did not manage to allege that the school had shown” deliberate indifference” in its response to the alleged antisemitism.

The plaintiffs, however, countered that the question of deliberate indifference is normally decided on a full factual record at the summary judgment stage. Even if it were not too early to decide on that, they argued, the details in their complaint means that their allegations “go far beyond plausibility.”

Representatives for UC Berkeley declined to comment on Tuesday.

The plaintiffs are represented by John V. Coghlan and Tara Helfman of Torridon Law PLLC, Eric M. George and David J. Carroll of Ellis George LLP, and Kenneth L. Marcus and L. Rachel Lerman in-house at the Brandeis Center.

UC Berkeley, its law school and the other defendants are represented by Hailyn J. Chen and Bryan H. Heckenlively of
Munger Tolles & Olson LLP.

The case is Louis D. Brandeis Center Inc. et al. v. Regents of the University of California et al., case number 3:23-cv-06133, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Did the Brandeis Center just have its most extraordinary month ever? It certainly looks that way. We announced we are suing Harvard University for leaving “cruel anti-Semitic bullying, harassment, and discrimination unaddressed for years.” We also announced an anti-Semitism lawsuit against Origins High School in New York City. We filed new Title VI complaints with the U.S. Dept. of Education (ED) Office for Civil Rights against four more institutions – the University of Massachusetts Amherst and three California schools: Pomona College, Occidental College , and the University of California, Santa Barbara. In a significant victory, a K-12 school in North Carolina agreed to settle an ED anti-Semitism complaint filed by LDB. And we expanded our previously-filed complaints against the Berkeley Unified School District and the University of California, Berkeley. In this jam-packed edition of the Brandeis Brief, we break all that activity down for you.

LDB Sues Harvard for ‘Tolerating Rampant and Pervasive Anti-Semitism’

The Brandeis Center announced it is suing Harvard University for leaving “cruel anti-Semitic bullying, harassment, and discrimination” unaddressed for years, pre- and post-10/7. According to the complaint, “when Harvard is presented with incontrovertible evidence of anti-Semitic conduct, it ignores and tolerates it. Harvard’s permissive posture towards anti-Semitism is the opposite of its aggressive enforcement of the same anti-bullying and anti-discrimination policies to protect other minorities.”

As detailed in the complaint, Harvard students and faculty have called for violence against Jews and celebrated Hamas’ terrorism. Student protestors have occupied and vandalized buildings, interrupted classes and exams, and made the campus unbearable for Jewish and Israeli classmates. Jewish students are bullied and spat on, intimidated, and threatened, and subject to verbal and physical harassment. For their part, professors have explicitly supported anti-Jewish and anti-Israel terrorism and spread anti-Semitic propaganda in their classes.

“For years, Harvard’s leaders have allowed the school to become a breeding ground for hateful anti-Jewish and radical anti-Israel views,” stated LDB Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus. “An outside investigator warned of the problem more than a year ago, Harvard Kennedy School’s Dean acknowledged it, and yet crickets. When are university leaders going to learn that in order to prevent your school from becoming a cesspool of anti-Semitism action is required? Schools must hold students and faculty accountable. They must follow through with public consequences when Jews are harassed and discriminated against just as they would for any other minority group, in keeping with settled law.”

LDB Lawsuit Targets Anti-Semitism in NYC Public School

The Louis D. Brandeis Center and law firm Walden Macht & Haran filed a lawsuit against Origins High School, the City of New York, the New York City Department of Education, and senior city and school officials on behalf of a public-school teacher and a campus administrator who have been harassed for months. Defendants did nothing to address the problem. Instead, they fired the Jewish teacher and the administrator who stood up for her.

The suit describes acts of anti-Semitism and hate speech against Jewish people generally, and teacher Danielle Kaminsky specifically, including students marching through the campus chanting “Fuck the Jews,” aggrandizing Adolf Hitler (and referring to him as the G.O.A.T. or “greatest of all time”), drawing swastikas on a Jewish student’s property, and exclaiming to a Jewish teacher that they “want to kill all jews.” The complaint also details how school officials, especially the Interim Acting Principal, sought to shield bigoted students from disciplinary action, even when a student brought explosives to school after engaging in other anti-Semitic acts. The complaint alleges that DOE’s complicity caused the anti-Semitism to fester, and that some of the bigoted cabal of students have started attacking and assaulting LGBTQ+ members of the school community.

“It seems to have been a complete abdication of responsibility, and then an attempted cover up,” stated LDB Senior Counsel Mark Goldfeder. LDB Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus added: “Above all else, safety must be a school’s #1 priority. Yet, New York City and Origins officials not only ignored violent, targeted threats, they attempted a complete cover-up. They shielded dangerous perpetrators, punished whistleblowers, and left Jewish teachers and students utterly vulnerable.”

LDB Files Title VI Complaints Against Four More Higher Education Institutions

In the past month, the Brandeis Center has filed Title VI civil rights complaints to the U.S. Dept. of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) asking the Office to investigate anti-Semitism at four institutions of higher education – the University of Massachusetts Amherst and three California colleges: Pomona, Occidental, and UC Santa Barbara.

“Following the law, holding perpetrators accountable, and issuing consequences is not rocket science. It’s beyond shameful that we have to call in the Department of Education to get a school to address a violent anti-Semitic assault and ensure other students aren’t similarly attacked,” stated LDB Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus in reference to the UMass complaint.

“Jewish students at Pomona and Occidental are hiding in their dorms and avoiding their own campus rather than risk verbal and physical attacks. These colleges know full well this is happening,” Marcus stated. “But instead of enforcing the law and their own policies, they are caving to the anti-Semitic mob and letting them bully, harass, and intimidate Jewish students. Anti-Semitism left unaddressed will not go away. It will only snowball and escalate until the problem is faced head on as the law requires.”

“At UCSB, what has been allowed to happen to Tessa [Veksler, UCSB Student Government President] over many months – shaming, harassing, and shunning a student to try to make her disavow a part of her Judaism – is shameful and illegal,” stated Marcus. “Sadly, this is not the first time we are seeing this mob behavior against a Jewish student elected by their student body to serve. It is incumbent upon UC Santa Barbara and all universities to say enough is enough.”

North Carolina K-12 School Settles U.S. Ed. Dept. OCR Complaint Filed by LDB

A North Carolina public charter school agreed to settle a U.S. Department of Education investigation into severe, persistent, and pervasive anti-Semitic bullying that went unaddressed in one of its charter schools for two full academic years. The settlement requires the school to take concrete steps to address the systemic anti-Semitism it allowed to fester in its community – e.g., publicizing a statement that it does not tolerate “acts of harassment based on a student’s actual or perceived race, color, or national origin including shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics (e.g. antisemitism),” and conducting annual trainings of school staff and administrators on anti-discrimination law under Title VI, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived shared ancestry and ethnic characteristics.

According to the settlement, a non-Jewish eighth-grade boy faced daily abuse after he wore the Israeli Olympic jersey of his favorite Major League Baseball player. From that moment on, he was treated with vicious, severe and relentless harassment and bullying by a group of nine classmates. The bullying occurred daily for two years. He was also threatened and physically assaulted. Officials at the middle school were fully aware of the problem yet they refused to take steps to protect the boy.

“I think this case is a reminder that the problem of anti-Semitism, whether it’s in K-12 schools or on college campuses, should not be shoved under the rug,” said Brandeis Center Director of Legal Initiatives Denise Katz-Prober. “It needs to be addressed head-on by educators, administrators and the Department of Education.”

U.S. Dept. of Ed. Opens Investigation Into Anti-Semitism at Berkeley K-12 Schools

The U.S. Dept. of Education Office for Civil Rights opened a formal investigation in May into a complaint filed by the Brandeis Center and Anti-Defamation League alleging that the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) has failed to address non-stop “severe and persistent” bullying and harassment of Jewish students in classrooms, hallways, school yards, and on walkouts since October 7, 2023.

One day before OCR opened the investigation, LDB and ADL expanded their jointly-filed complaint, sounding the alarm that the already-hostile environment for Jewish students is taking a frightening turn for the worse. For example, after the original complaint was filed, a student faced retaliation by peers and anti-Semitic graffiti appeared in a Berkeley High School bathroom and at the bus stop used by many Berkeley High School students to get to and from school.

And the day after OCR announced its investigation, BUSD’s Superintendent testified before the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce, denying that her school district had an unaddressed anti-Semitism problem. LDB and ADL’s expanded complaint provided a basis for the Committee’s questions. “They’re breeding the next generation of anti-Semites,” stated LDB Senior Counsel Robin N. Pick, who is overseeing Brandeis’s complaint, about BUSD’s administrators. “In some ways, it’s worse, because these are children as young as five or six years old. They’re captive audiences in these classrooms. They see their teachers as authority figures. They’re extremely impressionable. They don’t have the level of freedom as students do in college.” As a result, Pick warns, what’s happening in Berkeley classrooms amounts to “indoctrination.”

LDB and JAFE Expand Lawsuit Complaint Against UC Berkeley

The Brandeis Center and Jewish Americans for Fairness in Education (JAFE) – one of the three membership organizations it established to help students, faculty, and parents join its cases as anonymous plaintiffs – expanded their lawsuit complaint against UC Berkeley, adding additional anti-Semitism allegations to the suit.

“As we’ve continued to talk to students – graduate students, law students, undergraduates – we decided to amend our complaint to add new allegations regarding the campus atmosphere, which we believe is a hostile environment for Jewish and Israeli students,” stated LDB Vice Chair and Berkeley Law alumna L. Rachel Lerman. “What we’re seeking is injunctive relief mainly – we want a court to tell the school, ‘follow the law, enforce your rules.’ And we have found that sometimes this is very effective, sometimes we can reach a settlement agreement with the university or sometimes it has to play itself out in court.”

LDB Declares AAA a Potential Game-Changer for Jewish Students

The House approved the long-awaited Anti-Semitism Awareness Act (AAA) to combat anti-Semitism on college campuses. The fate of the bill awaits a decision by the Senate to bring the bill to a floor debate.

Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus commended the House decision: 

“This is the game-changing response that we’ve been waiting for. It finally establishes as a matter of law that Jewish students are protected under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Until now, this has been only a matter of informal guidance and an executive order. It also provides for the consistent, transparent use of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism and ensures that it will be applied consistent with the First Amendment.

“The legislation also gives the force of law to the Trump Executive Order on Combating Anti-Semitism. The Biden administration has said that they’re following this Order, but now it is formalized. Moreover, the Biden administration has long promised to codify the IHRA definition via regulation, but they have repeatedly missed their self-imposed deadlines.

“From a federal perspective, this legislation won’t change current practice so much as it will reinforce it. From a university perspective, however, there are few U.S. universities that are consistently applying the IHRA definition in appropriate cases. This legislation should put a stop to that.”

Kenneth Marcus Explains Recent U.S. Ed. Dept. OCR Anti-Semitism Guidance in Chronicle of Higher Education

The Chronicle of Higher Education article emphasizes the Brandeis Center’s insights on recent OCR guidance on discrimination – including anti-Semitism – based on real or perceived shared ancestry characteristics.

“This letter is a signal to colleges that OCR is very much open for business. It shows that it is actively pursuing antisemitism and other ethnoreligious cases,” declared LDB Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus. The Chronicle of Higher Education reaches an extremely influential higher education audience.

To Marcus, OCR’s citation of the IHRA working definition of antisemitism, along with another that references a Q&A on President Trump’s Executive Order on Combating Antisemitism, “clarif[ies] that this administration remains committed to President Trump’s executive order.” Taken together, they show that the IHRA Definition “is not something institutions can choose to adopt,” Marcus said, but a principle “that is woven into the regulatory fabric of the agency.” Marcus has been pushing Congress to pass the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act, which would codify the IHRA Definition.

LDB and Others Prevent Showing of Anti-Semitic Film at Washington, D.C. High School

The Brandeis Center, American Jewish Committee and JCRC of Greater Washington jointly-filed an amicus brief in federal court case, supporting a Washington, D.C. high school’s decision to ban the screening of an anti-Semitic documentary.

One day later, the student group that had sued to compel the school to screen the film “The Occupation of the American Mind” narrated by Roger Waters withdrew its request for a preliminary injunction that, if granted, would have allowed it to show the film.

“High schools should not be sanctioning movies, teacher lesson plans, or any ‘educational’ activities that present a one-sided, biased perspective, often laced with anti-Semitic tropes about Israel and Jews. That is not education,” stated LDB Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus. “Schools have every right to exclude anti-Israel propaganda.”

NYT Interviews Rachel Lerman on Lack of Consequences for Anti-Semitic Faculty and Administrators

In a recent analysis of the lack of firings of educators accused of anti-Semitism, the New York Times sought insights from Brandeis Center Vice Chair L. Rachel Lerman.

LDB and ADL’s jointly-filed Title VI federal complaint filed against Berkely Unified School District (BUSD) argues that the district has “refused” to discipline teachers, including some who framed the Hamas attack as “resistance” or called Israel an “apartheid state” in their classrooms. The U.S. Dept. of Education recently opened an investigation into BUSD based on LDB’s complaint.

Lerman stated that many Jewish families feel that if another group were to face similar targeting in schools, “We would see results. It’s not about silencing speech. It’s about what’s appropriate in the classroom under the school’s own rules and California’s own laws.”

LDB Hosts Capitol Hill Briefing Highlighting the Spread of Anti-Semitism in K-12 Schools

The Brandeis Center hosted a Capitol Hill briefing titled “Fighting Antisemitism in K-12 School” in early May. The panel discussion was moderated by Brandeis Center Director of Legal Initiatives Denise Katz-Prober and featured Director of Legal Investigation Marci Lerner Miller and Senior Counsel Mark Goldfeder.

“Some of the anti-Semitism we are seeing in elementary and secondary schools involves traditional and classic manifestations, while some of it resembles what we are seeing in higher education, with middle and high schoolers emulating their older siblings to target Jews on the basis of their shared ancestry connected to Israel,” Katz-Prober explained. “And some aspects of the problem are different – coming from teacher unions or school-generated problems with curriculum.”

Read the full blog post, authored by LDB Director of Policy Education Emma Enig, who also produced the Congressional Briefing.

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Alyza Lewin to Feature in Touro University Webinar (June 19)

Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin is among the featured panelists in a webinar titled “Antisemitism on College Campuses and Beyond.” The event is open to the public.
 
The event also features United States District Judge Hon. Roy K. Altman. The presentation’s moderators are Touro University President Dr. Alan Kadish and Touro University Professor of Law and Director of the Jewish Law Institute Samuel J. Levine.
 
Register here. The Touro Talks 2024 Distinguished Lecture Series, virtual lectures is co-sponsored by Robert and Arlene Rosenberg and the Jewish Law Institute at Touro Law Center.

Kenneth L. Marcus Discusses Anti-Semitism Awareness Act on NBC News

Kenneth L. Marcus Discusses the Anti-Awareness Act in an Instagram Reel Posted by NBC News.

The Brandeis Center is Hiring

The Brandeis Center is hiring for the full-time positions of Litigation Counsel (New York), Staff Attorney (New York; Washington, D.C.; or remote), and Director of Development ( Washington, D.C.; New York; or remote). Duties, qualifications, and compensation are listed in the Opportunities section of our website.

If you meet the qualifications and are passionate about our mission to advance the civil and human rights of the Jewish people and promote justice for all, we want to hear from you. Interested candidates should send resumes and cover letters by electronic mail to info@brandeiscenter.com. For the attorney roles, we suggest also including a writing sample and list of references.

The Brandeis Center and our partners at StandWithUs and ADL jointly filed a federal complaint against Ohio State University (OSU), alleging a pervasive anti-Semitic climate for Jewish students. Pratt Institute removed a BDS resolution from its Academic Senate agenda after receiving a letter from LDB warning that passage “would trigger [New York State] to divest all state funding from Pratt. And NBC News sought LDB Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus’s comment on a major feature about anti-Semitism escalating across America’s college campuses.

‘Proactively Open Investigations,’ Kenneth Marcus Tells U.S. Dept. of Education

NBC News contacted LDB Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus for a feature article about the pro-Hamas encampments that have been sweeping American university campuses.

Marcus centered an important point about the U.S. Dept. of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) – the office which he used to lead – should be doing right now: “The department’s office of civil rights should be seizing the moment and taking charge of this situation. It’s not enough merely to wait passively for complaints to come in and log them and indicate that investigations have been opened.”

Marcus continued: “They should be proactively opening investigations rather than waiting.”

LDB, ADL, and StandWithUs File Complaint Against OSU for Hostile, Pervasive Anti-Semitism

The Brandeis Center, Anti-Defamation League, and StandWithUs submitted a formal complaint with OCR against Ohio State University, alleging the university has failed to address the severe discrimination and harassment of Jewish and Israeli students following the October 7 massacre in Israel, which fostered “a hostile anti-Semitic environment that is now pervasive” at Ohio State.

The groups allege that since the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, Jewish students at OSU have faced a litany of anti-Semitic incidents, including physical assaults, threatening graffiti in classrooms and university facilities, as well as the removal of posters and photos of kidnapped Israelis. The complaint seeks remedies under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“There is a clear, direct, and indisputable correlation between lack of accountability and rising levels of anti-Semitism,” stated LDB Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus. “Schools must act immediately to address incidents and hold violators accountable. Unfortunately, schools like Ohio State that continue to sweep incidents under the rug are getting worse by the day….Schools must uphold the law and address each and every incident of antisemitic discrimination and harassment, or the problem will continue to snowball.”

The complaint urges OCR to compel the university’s administration to implement measures necessary to secure the safety of Jewish and Israeli students at OSU, including by issuing a public statement condemning anti-Semitic hostility on campus and devoting more resources and increasing security measure to deter future attacks. The complaint also urges the university to incorporate the IHRA working definition of antisemitism into its campus policies concerning discrimination, and to provide mandatory anti-Semitism training to university administrators, faculty, students and staff.

LDB Letter Moves Pratt Institute to Back Down from Holding BDS Vote on Passover

Brandeis Center Director of Corporate Initiatives and Senior Counsel Rory Lancman sent a letter to Pratt Institute’s Board Chair, President and Academic Senate President. The requests the Academic Senate to withdraw a BDS resolution – or risk running afoul of New York State law that “would trigger the state to divest all state funding from Pratt.”

“Jewish faculty were being excluded from having any say because the measure was being introduced and potentially voted on during their religious holiday, when most if not all will be with family and friends,” Hon. Rory Lancman told the New York Post. “The anti-Semitic proposal is so broadly written that it could even ban Jewish community groups such as Hillel and Chabad from campus.” LDB represents staff and students opposed to the proposal.

“Holding a vote to boycott Israel at that Passover meeting is positively obscene,” declared Lancman in the April 19 letter to Pratt board of trustees Chairman Garry Hattem, President Frances Bronet and Academic Senate President Uzma Rizvi, an archaeological professor.

Lancman warned that Pratt’s refusal to accommodate the religious beliefs of Pratt’s Jewish students and staff by postponing a meeting that particularly impacts them as Jews would violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 covering higher education institutions that receive federal funding. He noted that a state executive order implemented first by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2016 and continued by Gov. Kathy Hochul bars New York State government from doing business with institutions that support the boycott, divest and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.

“Any such boycott is illegal and, of course, among other things, would trigger the state to divest (oh, the irony) all state funding from Pratt,” Lancman wrote in LDB’s letter.

In response to the Brandeis Center’s letter, Pratt ultimately relented and removed the BDS resolution vote from its Academic Senate agenda.

The Post sought Lancman’s comment regarding a second anti-Semitic incident – involving the same professor who heads Pratt’s Academic Senate – concerning graphic and horrendous “Red Hands” vandalism to a tree on Pratt’s campus. “What better way to terrorize your Jewish students and faculty into submission than maintaining a display in the middle of your campus representing Jews getting lynched?” Lancman rhetorically asked the Post.

Alyza Lewin Urges Vanderbilt to Admit Jewish Student Group to Campus Multicultural Organization

Vanderbilt University has denied its local Students Supporting Israel (SSI) chapter membership in the Multicultural Leadership Council branch of its student government.

The Algemeiner, in its coverage of the story, referred to insights from Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin about a similar incident faced by Duke’s SSI chapter in 2021. At the time, LDB advised Duke’s SSI chapter and sent a letter warning the university about its exposure to legal liability should it fail to reverse the student government’s discriminatory decision not to grant the group recognition as an official student organization.

“Grant them the same access,” Lewin said at the time, warning of potential civil rights violations. “Treat them no differently than any other student recognized organization. If the university chooses not to intervene and does not make sure that SSI gets equal access and it is understood to be no different than any other organization, there could be potential legal liability for the university.”

Rachel Lerman Discusses LDB Anti-Semitism Lawsuit Against UC Berkeley on Bloomberg Podcast

Brandeis Center General Counsel and Vice Chair L. Rachel Lerman joined Bloomberg Law’s “On the Merits” podcast for an episode titled “Why Lawsuits Against Campus Antisemitism May Succeed.”

Lerman discussed the Brandeis Center’s pending lawsuit against the University of California Berkeley over the “longstanding unchecked spread of anti-Semitism” on Berkeley’s campus.

“After October 7 it became dramatically worse. We are speaking to many students…who are telling us of their experiences on campus. A couple of them have been assaulted, some of them have been threatened, all of them have had to deal with the ongoing rallies…and different kind of pro-Hamas events going on at the school,” said Lerman.

‘Not Pro-Palestinian, This is Pro-Hate’ Declares Marcus on Fox News

Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus appeared on Fox News Live, the day following the Islamic Republic of Iran’s attack against Israel – to discuss protesters in Chicago erupting into applause to the news of the attack.

“These are the moments when the anti-Israel activists give up the game….They are gleeful about an escalation of war, about an attack on the Jewish state. Peace activists don’t praise escalations of war. Human rights activists don’t support attacks on civilian populations,” asserted Marcus. “What we’re seeing when it comes to the organized anti-Zionist movement cannot be understood as anything other than an organized hate group or anti-Semitism organization.”

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Kenneth Marcus Praises Congressional Hearing, Making it Harder for Columbia ‘Administrators to Gaslight Students’

Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus provided insights to Politico, ahead of the U.S. House Committee on Education & the Workforce hearing on campus anti-Semitism with Columbia University President Minouche Shafik.

Marcus praised the Committee’s decision to hold another public hearing on campus anti-Semitism. He said the heightened awareness from Congressional scrutiny greatly benefits Jewish students, who have faced anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination long before the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel triggered nationwide campus demonstrations.

“This has made it harder for administrators to gaslight students and pretend that the problem doesn’t exist,” declared Marcus. “It’s also created pressures that have led some administrators to take useful actions, but they’re still too few and far between.”

Marcus Quoted Extensively in Free Press Article Examining Results from OCR Anti-Semitism Complaints and Independent Lawsuits

The Free Press quoted Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus extensively in a feature broadly examining anti-Semitism complaints filed with the U.S. Dept. of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR), along with independent lawsuits. The story describes the Brandeis Center as “the driving force behind much of this litigation.”

“The goal in these cases is to change the behavior of university administrators,” Marcus said, “so they will deter this sort of activity, which is not tolerated toward any other group.” Responding to the question of whether these legal challenges work, Marcus pointed to LDB’s landmark resolution agreement reached between the federal government and the University of Vermont, spurred by LDB’s Title VI anti-Semitism complaint: “No one is saying we’ve cured antisemitism in Vermont or that the work can stop there,” Marcus said. “What people are saying is that the university is dramatically more responsive to antisemitic incidents than it was before.”

The piece included Marcus’s views that the DEI ideological approach as a whole needs to be dismantled if Jews are to be fully protected from anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination: “As long as DEI programs are built upon the dichotomy of oppressors and oppressed, Jews will too often be defined as oppressors and told to own their privilege,” he said. “This entire ideological approach needs to be dismantled.”

The article also mentioned LDB’s rapid staff expansion following October 7.

Jewish Press Includes LDB in Select Group of Organizations, Urging Readers to ‘Donate Jewish’

The Brandeis Center thanks the Jewish Press for including our organization in its select group of pro-Jewish and Israel organizations to consider donating to this year.

Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus was featured in a New York Times cover story on “The Man Who Helped Redefine Campus Anti-Semitism.” The Brandeis Center’s K-12 anti-Semitism complaint against the Berkeley Unified School District continues to generate intense interest from national news media. And Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin shared the stage with New York Attorney General Letitia James and other experts at ADL’s Never Is Now conference to discuss legal efforts aimed at combating anti-Semitism.

Kenneth Marcus in NYT: ‘The Man Who Helped Redefine Campus Anti-Semitism’

The New York Times published a page-one story on Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus titled “The Man Who Helped Redefine Campus Anti-Semitism.”

The front-page feature takes readers through the LDB Founder and Chairman’s journey – inside government and out – “helping to clarify civil rights protections for Jewish students under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and broadening the definition of what can be considered anti-Semitic.”

“He has also been an outside agitator, filing and promoting federal claims of harassment of Jews that he knows will garner media attention and put pressure on college administrators, students and faculty,” writes the Times. “The impact of his life’s work has never been more felt than in the last few months…”

The article includes the LDB founder’s formulation of the “Marcus Doctrine,” which established protections for Jews, Muslims and Sikhs against discrimination based on national origin, including actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics – and notes that the U.S. Dept. of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has opened 89 new shared ancestry investigations since October 7. And it details his first-ever implementation of the IHRA working definition of antisemitism in a campus anti-Semitism case.

“I’ve spent my career focused on this battle,” stated Marcus, “and it seems sometimes as if it’s all been leading up to this very moment.”

CNN Interviews Students from LDB K-12 Case: Berkeley Unified School District

“The Lead with Jake Tapper,” sat down with several Jewish students who have experienced anti-Semitic harassment within the Berkeley Unified School District public schools, where LDB recently filed a federal antidiscrimination complaint.

Referring to one of the incidents mentioned in LDB’s complaint, one of the students told viewers: “During the walkout – I could hear it from my classroom – one of my friends came in and told me: ‘They were chanting ‘Fuck the Jews.’”

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CNN’s ‘The Lead with Jake Tapper’ segment on
LDB complaint against BUSD – 3/18/24

On NewsNation, Rachel Lerman Explains Nonstop Anti-Semitic Bullying and Harassment in Berkeley Unified School District Schools

While speaking about LDB’s anti-Semitism complaint against BUSD on NewsNation’s “On Balance With Leland Vittert,” Brandeis Center General Counsel L. Rachel Lerman explained: “We’ve been working on college campuses for many years, and we’ve recently been looking at K-12 – and after October 7, honestly our phone just rang off the hook with parents calling us in distress about what’s going on in their children’s schools.”

As Lerman stated: “The idea that 7-year-olds are asked to participate in this kind of condemnation of Israel, which they cannot possibly understand – and then placing that outside the Jewish teacher’s door – is just awful.”

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Rachel Lerman on NewsNation ‘On Balance with Leland Vittert’:
Berkeley School Anti-Semitism Complaint

Alyza D. Lewin Tells ADL Never Is Now Audience About ‘Taking Anti-Semitism and Hate to Court’

Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin joined New York State Attorney General Letitia James and legal experts at the ADL and elsewhere for a conversation at ADL’s Never Is Now conference about how the legal system has become a battleground for addressing anti-Semitism, hate speech, discrimination and intolerance.

Lewin discussed the complexities and challenges of tackling anti-Semitic hate in courtrooms and before government agencies and explained how the use of legal tools to protect the rights of Jews – like filing Title VI complaints – opens potential pathways towards a more inclusive and just society more broadly.

Rachel Lerman Highlights the Wave of Anti-Semitism Directed at California’s K-12 Students

Writing in The Jewish News of Northern California, LDB General Counsel L. Rachel Lerman detailed the deluge of inquiries the Brandeis Center began receiving from outraged and distraught parents in the Bay Area after the October 7 massacre.

“Parents told us about second graders being directed to write ‘stop bombing babies’ on sticky notes and placing them on the door of their elementary school’s only Jewish teacher; teachers instructing students of all ages that Israelis are responsible for the massacre of their own families on October 7; and teachers encouraging middle and high school students to walk out during the school day to ‘march for Gaza’ without notice to parents or any of the usual safety protocols.’

Lerman highlighted projects from the Brandeis Center and partners to help besieged Jewish parents, teachers and students in California, such as a legal helpline for K-12 parents and a federal anti-Semitism complaint filed against the Berkeley Unified School District. She also provided background on pre-October 7 California legislation that contributed to the current strife.

“The bottom line,” Lerman concluded, “is that Jewish students deserve an educational environment free from bullying, harassment and discrimination. California school administrators must enforce the state’s anti-discrimination laws. And for those who do not, California parents can report their children’s experience to civil rights legal advocates.”

Kenneth Marcus Tells Jewish Insider: ‘There’s Been Anti-Semitic Bigotry [at] Columbia for Decades Now’

Following an announcement by Columbia University’s task force on anti-Semitism about new recommendations pertaining to rules for campus protesting, Jewish Insider turned to Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus for his insights in light of the longstanding hostile climate on Columbia’s campus.

“The new recommendations have some technically good work which could provide incremental advances, but it’s certainly not the kind of thing that will solve Columbia’s problems,” Marcus declared. “The fact is that there’s been antisemitic bigotry [at] Columbia University for decades now.”

“It’s not as if a few changes to the protest policies are going to substantially change the institution as long as they continue business as usual,” he continued. “Much of what’s in this new set of recommendations could have been written on Oct. 6 given everything that’s happened since. What’s needed is not a series of incremental measures, but a rethinking of what Columbia is doing to cause harm, not just to Jewish students but also to the surrounding community. These recommendations may lead to technical and marginal changes in the ways that the university responds to specific incidents, and generally speaking that’s a good thing.”

“I know this is only one of the series of reports that we can anticipate, but if this is an indication of what’s to come, it may provide some useful professional iteration but not a truly substantial change,” Marcus stated. “It does not indicate a new mindset that is ready to deal with the problems Oct. 7 has revealed.”

The article also mentions the Brandeis Center’s pending federal lawsuit against UC-Berkeley as well as LDB’s pending Department of Education complaints against American University, SUNY New Paltz, the University of Southern California, Brooklyn College, and the University of Illinois.

LDB Holds Capitol Hill Policy Briefing on How Hamas Propaganda Impacts U.S. Students

Hosted by U.S. Representative Virginia Foxx, the Brandeis Center held another Capitol Hill policy briefing March 26 titled “The Israel-Gaza War: How Hamas Propaganda Impacts American Students.”
 
Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus delivered opening remarks, while LDB Senior Counsel Mark Goldfeder interviewed urban warfare expert John W. Spencer. Spencer is an award-winning scholar, professor, author, combat veteran, national security and military analyst, and internationally recognized expert and advisor on urban warfare, military strategy, and tactics. Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin provided final remarks.
 
“Holding Jewish students responsible for Israel’s actions is blatantly anti-Semitic,” said Brandeis Center Director of Policy Education Emma Enig. “But it’s even worse when the charges against Israel are false. Why are students being forced to defend themselves against Hamas propaganda online and in the classroom?”

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LDB Capitol Hill Policy Briefing: ‘The Israel-Gaza War:
How Hamas Propaganda Impacts American Students’

Kenneth Marcus Contextualizes Alarming Survey Data on Jews Feeling ‘Unsafe’ on Campus

Seventy-three percent of Jewish students reported feeling less safe on campus after the Oct. 7 attack, according to a joint ADL-Hillel survey released in November.
 
Speaking to the Washington Examiner, Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus contextualized the hostile campus culture that has given rise to these feelings of unsafety for Jewish students, and explained what universities should do to address the situation.
 
“Universities need to be both reactive and proactive. They need to respond to anti-Semitism with the same seriousness that they display when addressing other forms of discrimination. This means dismantling the two-tiered system under which microaggressions against other groups are fiercely resisted while even macroaggressions against Jewish students are minimized,” he said.
 
Marcus explained that a “serious response” would require looking at the “deep cultural rot” on campus and identifying a number of programs sold as fostering inclusivity but instead result in only furthering the problem. “This means taking a hard look at the whole constellation of programs that are supposed to make colleges better and instead are making them worse: everything from DEI to anti-racist programming to critical race theory to liberated ethnic studies to post-Colonial curricula to the whole identity-industrial complex,” he said.

Deena Margolies Discusses LDB’s Post-October 7 Title VI Cases with Students at Cardozo School of Law

At an event hosted by LDB’s Cardozo Law Student Chapter, Brandeis Center Staff Attorney Deena Margolies discussed the Title VI cases that the Brandeis Center is actively litigating since the October 7 Hamas attacks .

While the in-person event was open only to Cardozo School of Law students, the public was able to attend via Zoom.