US District Court Judge Richard Stearns has approved a lawsuit filed by Jewish students against Harvard University alleging that it enabled antisemitism on campus, says Reuters.
Judge Stearns rejected the request of the Ivy League university leaders to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the Jewish students and stated that "the plaintiffs have reasonably argued that Harvard's response to incidents on campus was insufficient and that the facts, as presented, show that Harvard failed its Jewish students," ruled the judge.
He also added that he was, "dubious that Harvard could claim that some of the pro-Palestinian or anti-Jewish activities were protected by the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment."
The lawsuit was filed last January by a group of Jewish students who accused Harvard's leaders of selectively enforcing its anti-discrimination policies to avoid protecting Jewish students from harassment, ignoring their pleas for protection, and hiring professors who advocated anti-Jewish violence and spread antisemitic propaganda
Stearns added that the plaintiffs can also pursue two other claims: that Harvard breached a contractual obligation to enforce its non-discrimination policies, and treated students unfairly by failing to enforce those policies "evenhandedly."