Columbia, Barnard class action alleges universities allow antisemitism

Barnard and Columbia antisemitism class action lawsuit overview: 

• Who: Students and student groups filed a class action lawsuit against Columbia University and Barnard College.  
• Why: Students accuse the schools of being centers for academic antisemitism in the United States.
• Where: Students filed the Columbia class action in federal court in New York.

A new Columbia and Barnard class action alleges the two New York-based universities are centers for antisemitism.

The lawsuit against Columbia University and Barnard College — Barnard is affiliated with Columbia but has independent admissions — makes allegations that the schools have allowed pro-Hamas protesters to shout antisemitic rhetoric, promote violence against Jews and physically assault and threaten Jewish students.

“Mobs of pro-Hamas students and faculty have marched by the hundreds through Columbia’s campus, shouting vile antisemitic slogans, including calls for genocide, such as: ‘Jews will not defeat us’; ‘there is only one solution, Intifada revolution’; ‘we will honor our martyrs’; ‘resistance is justified’; ‘by any means necessary’; and, in Arabic, ‘from water to water, Palestine will be Arab,’” the Columbia class action claims.

Columbia refuses to stop antisemitic conduct, lawsuit alleges

Barnard students are integrated into the Columbia campus, the class action says, and students at both colleges allegedly encounter the same behavior and acceptance of antisemitic actions on campus.

“What is most striking about all of this is Columbia’s abject failure and deliberate refusal to lift a finger to stop and deter this outrageous antisemitic conduct and discipline the students and faculty who perpetrate it,” the class action says.

Columbia also is facing a class action lawsuit claiming the school failed to protect students’ and employees’ sensitive information, leaving it vulnerable to a data breach in May 2023.

Have you encountered anti-semitism on a college campus? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiffs are represented by Marc E. Kasowitz, Daniel R. Benson, Mark P. Ressler, Andrew L. Schwartz, Joshua E. Roberts, Jillian R. Roffer and Zachary N. Josephs of Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP.

The antisemitism class action lawsuit is Students Against Antisemitism Inc., et al. v. The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, et al., Case No. 1:24-cv-01306, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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