Richard Stearns, a judge on the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts, ruled last week that Yoav Segev, a Harvard Business School graduate, failed to prove in his lawsuit that he had experienced “severe and pervasive racial harassment” at Harvard University, JNS reported.
Segev filed the suit in July, alleging that he was assaulted for being Jewish on campus and that Harvard rewarded his attackers while obstructing investigations into the incident.
Stearns ruled that there was no evidence the attack was motivated by anti-Jewish hate. The assault occurred in October 2023, when Segev was filming an anti-Israel “die-in” protest on campus, the same month Hamas terrorists carried out their massacre in southern Israel.
“At best, Segev notes that he was overtly wearing a blue bracelet symbolizing his support for Israel,” Stearns wrote in his ruling. “But it is not clear that protesters understood the import of his bracelet or that, if they did, they were acting based on antisemitism rather than disagreement with the underlying political message.”
The judge added, “Segev also cannot rely on the fact that other individuals were permitted to film the protest without official interference,” noting that the alumnus “does not allege any factual support for his contention that any official failure to intervene in either circumstance was motivated by antisemitism.”
Stearns further wrote that while Segev may not have been satisfied with Harvard’s handling of the matter, he could not point to any instance where the university promised disciplinary action but failed to follow through.
Harvard, like other universities in the US, has seen an uptick in anti-Israel activity since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel and the war in Gaza which followed. The university has come under fire over its handling of antisemitism on campus.
The Trump administration has taken several steps against Harvard University in the wake of its failure to handle growing antisemitism on campus, including a freeze of more than $2 billion in federal research funding.
In addition to the funding cuts, President Donald Trump also advocated for revoking the university's tax-exempt status.
Harvard responded by suing the administration, arguing the freeze was unconstitutional and an abuse of executive power. University officials claimed they had taken steps to combat antisemitism on the Cambridge campus.
In September, US District Judge Allison D. Burroughs ruled that the administration violated Harvard’s First Amendment and due process rights by canceling the grants wholesale after Harvard refused to comply with federal demands.
Last month, US Education Secretary Linda McMahon said that negotiations between the federal government and Harvard are nearing completion, as both sides work to resolve investigations and restore nearly $3 billion in frozen research grants.
Her comments came after Trump announced that Harvard University had agreed to pay $500 million and operate trade schools as part of a deal with the administration.