Students filed a lawsuit on Monday against Haverford College for violating the civil rights of Jewish students by creating a hostile environment toward Jews and for holding double standards on conduct against them compared to other ethnic and religious groups.
The suit filed to the Pennsylvanian Eastern District Court by five plaintiffs contended that the college administration had acted contrary to Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act by creating conditions in which Jewish students could not fully participate in classes and programming without fear of harassment.
Jewish students said that they could not speak Hebrew in public, engage in mannerisms that would identify them as Jewish and that they had to hide their beliefs and identities to avoid harassment. Haverford allegedly took no action to address the conditions of faculty and students that engaged in intimidation of Jewish students or for their support of terrorism.
The complaint seeking relief from the discrimination and compensation for breach of contract by the college came as anti-Israel protesters continued to occupy part of the campus with an encampment as part of the movement started at Columbia University in April.
Filed in cooperation with the Deborah Project, the complaint detailed a litany of individual incidents involving students and staff, as well as policies held by the administration, that led to the unsafe atmosphere at the school. One of the plaintiffs claimed to have heard Haverford students that “Jews exaggerate the Holocaust” and that “Jews are white and privileged.”
One student bragged on social media about tearing down Chabad posters. One Jewish student reported that at a meeting attended by the administration reviewing applicants for admissions tours, students rejected applicants because they “are Zionists.”
Controversial actions
Student groups repeatedly engaged in blood libel tropes. In late March, they held a class teaching how “Israel uses COVID[-19] as a tool for settler colonialism in Palestine” and “how the Israeli state intentionally debilitates Palestinians through the spread of COVID.” Haverford Students for Peace on May 9 published an Instagram post with bloody hands reaching for a donut entitled “Say not to blood donuts,” demanding that the college not purchase donuts for a commencement breakfast from Federal Donuts because the owner donated to Israeli causes.
Around October 11, Haverford College Professor Tarik Aougab, who allegedly described pro-Israel students as “racist genocidaires,” expressed support for the October 7 Massacre on social media, writing, “Let your rage drive your unequivocal and firm support for the Palestinian resistance.” He also shared a post on X, formerly Twitter, with a picture of Hamas terrorists tearing through the Gaza security barrier with bulldozers, arguing that they “should never have to apologize for celebrating these scenes of an imprisoned people breaking free from their chains. This was a historic moment to be recorded in the history books.” When Jewish students presented the X post to Haverford President Wendy Raymond, she allegedly told them that it could “be perceived in many ways,” and from her perspective, she “heard people breaking free from their chains.”
Another Haverford professor, Gina Velasco, allegedly posted on her Facebook page “F*** Israel” and “F*** Zionism,” but the suit notes that while action was not taken against anti-Israel professors, Haverford investigated tenured Jewish Israeli Professor Barak Mendelsohn for social media posts on the relationship between anti-Zionist and anti-Jewish attacks.
Haverford has a social media policy that disallows hate speech and direct attacks on individuals or groups, but allegedly did not enforce it for some groups but did use it against staff like Mendelsohn. The college likewise has a policy that bars anonymous persons from hanging posters, but similarly did not enforce the regulations against anti-Israel posters that declared “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
The suit alleged a trend of double standards in favor of some ethnic groups, while Jews and Israelis were disfavored. A January march in which it was alleged there were antisemitic slogans and calls for the state of Israel resulted in no repercussions for the students that attended it because it was off campus. Still, in the past, there were examples of Haverford revoking acceptance of the school after it had been discovered that an aspiring student had made anti-LGBTQ and anti-black statements on social media.
When a Palestinian student was murdered in a shooting in Vermont, the administration issued solid statements, and students were offered “Islamic” counseling and support for Muslim, Palestinian, and Arab students. At a vigil, Haverford Vice President Thelathia Young reportedly accused Israel of committing genocide and expressed sympathy for the Palestinians struggling against it.
The plaintiffs said that the administration offered only neutral statements on the October 7 Massacre, and though there were students with relatives killed or kidnapped in the attack, no support or counseling was provided for Jewish and Israeli students. It is further alleged that the administration took no action. One of the plaintiffs was publicly accused of bearing responsibility for the shooting of the Palestinian student, whom an anti-Israel Hamas supporter allegedly killed, because she spoke out about the October 7 Massacre.
The same plaintiff was forced by the administration “to agree to cancel a planned and preapproved Antisemitism Awareness component to a women’s basketball game because it could lead to violent rioting by antisemitic, pro-Palestine students.” Similar basketball awareness events have been held for gay pride, diabetes awareness, mental health awareness, and Black History Month.
Affiliate advisors of Hillel and Chabad reportedly held a meeting with senior administration officials, including Young, in which the staff allegedly failed to appreciate the hostility being faced by Jewish students, said the complaint, and when asked what assurances they could provide, they reportedly said that racial minorities had never felt safe at the college. Jewish students should not expect to feel secure but to be “brave.”
“The Jews at Haverford College – like Jews everywhere – were in terrible pain this year, but what was inflicted on them by their own classmates, their professors, and Haverford’s administrative leadership made their academic lives unbearable,” said Deborah Project Legal Director Lori Lowenthal Marcus. “And while so many of Haverford’s Jews stood up on their hind legs and repeatedly attempted to get the leadership to do the right thing and fulfill their legal obligations, all were met with deaf ears.”
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