Harvard Prevails as Court Backs University’s Defense
Harvard’s attorneys countered that while the alumni’s concerns were “impassioned,” they did not meet the legal threshold for standing. The court agreed, concluding that past students cannot retroactively challenge the university’s policies.
The plaintiffs maintained that Harvard’s commitments to inclusion and antisemitism prevention should not have ended upon their graduation. However, the judge’s ruling effectively shut down their claims, leaving them with no legal recourse.
Parallel Lawsuits See Mixed Results
Harvard has faced multiple legal challenges over its response to antisemitism, with mixed outcomes. Last month, the university settled parts of two similar lawsuits filed by student groups, agreeing to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism and increase training on campus. The settlement did not include an admission of wrongdoing, and monetary terms were undisclosed.
Meanwhile, a separate lawsuit filed by recent graduate Alexander Kestenbaum and Students Against Antisemitism Inc. survived Harvard’s dismissal efforts. In a sharp rebuke, U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns described the university’s response to antisemitic incidents as “at best, indecisive, vacillating and at times, internally contradictory.”
