Jewish students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) filed a federal lawsuit last week alleging that the prestigious Cambridge institution has failed to take any meaningful steps to stop the “spread of the wildfire of anti-Semitism, including anti-Semitic conduct” in the wake of the attacks. on October 7. Hamas attacks against Israel.
The StandWithUs Center for Legal Justice (SCLJ) and two MIT students filed a federal lawsuit in Massachusetts District Court outlining how MIT allegedly turns a blind eye to “hateful anti-Semitic discrimination and harassment” on its campus and refuses to enforce policies to protect Jewish and Israeli students. and teachers, and has therefore created a hostile environment for Jews.
“By permitting this discriminatory conduct, MIT has directly and intentionally contributed to a pervasively hostile university environment in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and has breached its duties to plaintiffs, its other Jewish students, its Israelis and “Indeed, to the entire MIT university community,” the complaint says. “Any alleged 'action' taken by MIT in response to discriminatory and harassing speech and conduct was not designed to have any significant impact on stopping the spread of anti-Semitism, including anti-Semitic conduct.
Fox News Digital has reached out to MIT for comment on the lawsuit.
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Hundreds of people walk through the streets of Boston as they protest the siege of Gaza and demand an end to US funding to Israel. The rally was part of a national gathering of students, including BU, MIT, Tufts, Wellesley and Emerson. (Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
The new lawsuit calls on MIT to implement “comprehensive and significant corrective measures,” including the dismissal of administrators, professors, or other university employees or staff “responsible for the anti-Semitic abuse that pervades the school,” as well as the suspension or expulsion of students. and student groups. and communicate widely that MIT “will condemn, investigate, and punish any conduct that discriminates against or harasses members of the Jewish community.”
As a result of MIT's “blatant and intentional disregard for its legal obligations to its students, plaintiffs and other students have suffered harm, including in their educational experience,” the lawsuit says.
The presidents of UPenn, Harvard, and MIT testified before Congress last year about rising anti-Semitism on their campuses in the wake of October 7. (AP)
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The complaint alleges that Jewish professors reported incidents in which MIT students disrupted the academic environment and intimidated professors by shouting outside their offices while banging on doors. One professor described incidents in which a hostile group of pro-Hamas and anti-Israel MIT students physically prevented Jewish and Israeli MIT students from attending a class.
Pro-Palestine student protesters, including those from MIT, marched through the streets of Boston demanding an end to US funding to Israel. (Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Jewish students testified that, instead of dispersing anti-Semitic mobs on campus, MIT warned Jewish students to stay away from certain areas (effectively sending Jewish and Israeli students underground at its own university) without repercussions. for students who violated school policies and created an unsafe environment for Jewish students, according to the complaint.
In a statement to the Boston Herald on Friday, an MIT spokesperson said: “We have not received the complaint and MIT, as a typical practice, does not comment on pending litigation. Generally, we note that MIT has established processes in place to address concerns.” of discrimination and harassment”.
A group of Harvard students already sued their university last month over what they described as “severe and widespread” anti-Semitism on campus. And the House Education and Workforce Committee continues its investigations into MIT, Harvard, UPenn and other schools after anti-Semitism reached a fever pitch on American college campuses in the wake of October 7.
On Friday, committee chairwoman Rep. Virginia Foxx, R.N.C., wrote to MIT President Sally Kornbluth and MIT Corporation President Mark P. Gorenberg, asking them to submit a trove of documents about “widespread” anti-Semitism after “numerous deeply worrying incidents.” and developments” at the university.
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Kornbluth – along with now-former Harvard President Claudine Gay and now-former UPenn President Liz Magill – were heavily reprimanded for their testimony before the House Education and Workforce Committee in December, in which they the trio, in the name of free speech, did not condemn direct calls for the intifada, or genocide of Jews, on their university campuses. Months later, only Kornbluth retains her position as president. Magill resigned as president amid criticism, while Gay also subsequently resigned, also amid a plagiarism scandal.
