The Brandeis Brief: December 2024

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As Thanksgiving approaches, we are grateful for your support that allows us to continue fighting to protect the civil rights of the Jewish people and promote justice for all. We could not continue this critical work without you, and we wish you a meaningful holiday with your family and loved ones.

The Brandeis Center continued this month with our efforts to hold universities accountable, receiving a favorable decision in our lawsuit against Harvard University. This important decision allows us to proceed to the discovery phase, where the Brandeis Center will prove its allegations of rampant, unaddressed anti-Semitism. With the election results in, we also look ahead at how a new administration may impact the ongoing problem of anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination on campuses across the country.

In this issue:

Next Tuesday is Giving Tuesday

This Giving Tuesday, your gift means more than ever before. Jewish students, professionals, and people everywhere are facing historic levels of anti-Semitic discrimination, and your support allows us to protect them. Next week, we look forward to sharing the stories of people who have been affected by this hate, and supported by our work. We hope you’ll make a lasting impact with us at this critical moment.

Judge Rules Anti-Semitism Lawsuit Against Harvard Should Proceed 

A federal lawsuit against Harvard University, filed by the Brandeis Center and Jewish Americans for Fairness in Education, alleges that the university failed to address harassment of Jewish students, particularly after the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel. In a hearing earlier this month, Judge Robert Stearns denied Harvard’s request to dismiss the lawsuit, allowing the case to proceed.  Kenneth L. Marcus, Chairman of the Brandeis Center, emphasized that this decision reiterates “the extent of the problems at Harvard and reasons why that institution needs to be held accountable,” adding that the university needs to take “much more seriously the problems that Jewish students are facing on campus.” The Brandeis Center issued a statement emphasizing the importance of the case and the Judge’s decision.

How the Trump Administration Plans to Address Campus Anti-Semitism 

With a new administration poised to take office, many are wondering how responses to anti-Semitism, including the harassment and discrimination we’ve seen surging on college campuses, will change under President Trump. Kenneth L. Marcus discussed his predictions with Jewish Insider, noting that “we know that this is an issue that is going to be prominent on the agenda of the incoming administration.”  


At Columbia University, a hotbed of anti-Semitic activity, increased pressure to finally protect Jewish students on campus amid speculation that failure to do so could put federal funding in jeopardy under the incoming Trump administration, might also force change. In response to Trump’s campaign pledge to impose consequences on universities that fail to uphold anti-discrimination laws to protect Jewish, and other, students, Mr. Marcus spoke with The New York Sun, saying “all we need to do is listen to what President Trump has said during his campaign to understand that this administration will be serious about enforcing anti-discrimination laws in ways that could be problematic to those institutions that have been getting a free pass for too long.”

Uncovering Anti-Semitism: A New Congressional Report

Following the Committee on Education & the Workforce’s new report, Antisemitism on College Campuses Exposed, which summarized a year-long investigation into anti-Semitism on college campuses, Brandeis Center President Alyza Lewin discussed key findings from the report in an exclusive webinar with the Israeli American Council (IAC). The conversation also included Elan S. Carr, IAC’s CEO, and Sagit Sade Attia, IAC’s National Senior Director of Academic Action, and discussed strategic recommendations to respond to the report, advocate for change, and create safer academic environments. Watch the conversation here:

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Discussing Anti-Semitism on College Campuses

Campus Chaos: Protected Speech or Unprotected Conduct?  

Brandeis Center Founder Kenneth L. Marcus joined a panel discussion examining the scope and limits of the First Amendment in the context of student protests and demonstrations that took over college campuses following the October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel. Speaking about the values misalignment at the root of these issues, and how we can fix it, Mr. Marcussaid, “true change is not going to be a matter of addressing specific incidents, it’s going to be a matter of building institutions upon a foundation of values that won’t lead us to the DEI, the CRT, and the various other ideologies that then sustain the various forms of hate we’re seeing now.”

The conversation was moderated by Judge David R. Stras of the United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit; other panelists included Dean Thomas J. Miles, professor at University of Chicago Law School, Prof. Nadine Strossen, professor at New York Law School and former President of the American Civil Liberties Union, and Prof. Eugene Volokh, Fellow at Hoover Institution and professor at UCLA School of Law. Watch the full conversation:

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2024 National Lawyers Convention

Mr. Marcus also joined a panel discussion on anti-Semitism and free speech on college campuses at George Mason University Law School’s “Voices for Liberty” symposium. The conversation was moderated by Debi Ghate, Initiative Director; other panelists included David Bernstein, George Mason University Law School Professor and Executive Director, and Samuel Goldman, Associate Professor of Political Science at George Washington University. Watch the conversation, which originally aired on C-SPAN

The Brandeis Center Welcomes New Staff

Continuing with our record growth, the Brandeis Center is pleased to welcome several new staff members to the team. Visit the Staff page to learn more.

Ebony Dan                                                        Cara Herman
Executive Assistant                             Director of Communications 
Jackie Himelfarb                                               Omer Wiczyk
Development Manager                                  Senior Counsel 
Stewart Wiener                                                                             
Senior Counsel