New York University (NYU) has reached a settlement in a federal lawsuit with three Jewish students who claimed “egregious” civil rights violations by the university created a “hostile” antisemitic environment for students.
In the lawsuit, Bella Ingber, Sabrina Maslavi and Saul Tawil claimed they and other Jewish students were subjected to “pervasive acts of hatred, discrimination, harassment and intimidation,” which was settled for an undisclosed monetary amount. The students were all juniors in November 2023 when the suit was filed; Ingber in the College of Arts and Sciences, Maslavi in the Gallatin School of Individualized Study, and Tawil at the School of Professional Studies’ Schack Institute of Real Estate.
As part of the settlement NYU has committed to taking “groundbreaking” measures to address antisemitism, according to a joint statement by NYU President Linda Mills and the plaintiffs.
“We are committed to continuing our vigorous efforts to confront discrimination, including antisemitism, and the settlement in this litigation is yet another step in this direction,” reads the statement, which acknowledges incidents have increased since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel. The suit alleged NYU was in violation of Title VI of the federal Civil Rights Act based on its failure to act on discrimination against those of a protected faith.
As part of commitment, NYU will be among the first major universities in the nation to create a new Title VI coordinator position. Among the coordinator’s responsibilities will be creating an annual report about disciplinary data and another report that examines NYU’s disciplinary responses to “allegations of discrimination or harassment” since 2018.
“For years, NYU—acutely aware of ongoing and disgraceful acts of anti-Jewish bigotry—has reacted with, at best, deliberate indifference, refusing to enforce its own anti-discrimination and conduct policies that it readily applies to protect other targets of bigotry, and instead fostering an environment in which students and faculty members are permitted to repeatedly abuse, malign, vilify, and threaten Jewish students with impunity,” according to the suit, which alleged that for years the university has ignored its own policies in its failure to protect Jewish students.
That harassment significantly intensified in recent months with “shockingly, numerous students and faculty members” engaging and applauding “openly and enthusiastically” Hamas’ October 7 massacre, which, the suit read, “lit a match to an already combustible antisemitic campus environment that NYU had created by tolerating and greenlighting antisemitic activity for years.”
The suit contended that “mobs of students,” often encouraged and accompanied by professors, were given “carte blanche” to harass and intimidate Jews at NYU and the university did nothing to halt it when complaints were received.
The suit stated the complaints were “ignored, slow-walked, or met with gaslighting by NYU administrators, including President Linda Mills, who, among other things, falsely dismissed antisemitism on campus as being blown out of proportion,” even though the students feared for their lives and were sickened by “virulent antisemitic hate speech” and threats encountered almost daily. As a result they were traumatized and forced to stay in their dorms or apartments or go home to escape “rampaging mobs” and were deprived of their full college experience.
The joint statement noted that NYU’s Non-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment policy includes the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism and that the university takes seriously all allegations of discrimination and “confirms that NYU treats all allegations of discrimination against Jews and Israelis in the same manner that it treats conduct prohibited under Title VI and other civil rights statutes when directed at other protected groups.”
NYU has also committed to provide additional resources to its community to prevent antisemitism by updating the discussion of antisemitism in NYU’s Guidance and Expectations for Student Conduct document, including antisemitism in mandatory training for students and staff, send an annual message from the Office of the President to students, faculty and staff conveying the university’s “zero tolerance” for antisemitism and all other forms of discrimination and harassment and dedicating additional academic resources and opportunities that will include a focus on the study of antisemitism and Hebrew and Judaic studies as well as strengthening the existing relationship with Tel Aviv University.
The suit had been filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York by the Manhattan law firm of Kasowitz Benson Torres, LLP.
“NYU, by entering into this historic settlement, is to be commended for taking a leading position among American universities in combating antisemitism on campus,” said managing firm partner Marc Kasowitz in the joint statement. “Other universities should promptly follow their lead.”
Debra Rubin has had a long career in journalism writing for secular weekly and daily newspapers and Jewish publications. She most recently served as Middlesex/Monmouth bureau chief for the New Jersey Jewish News. She also worked with the media at several nonprofits, including serving as assistant public relations director of HIAS and assistant director of media relations at Yeshiva University.
