New York University has settled a lawsuit filed by Jewish students who accused the school of failing to stop antisemitism on campus, a spokeswoman for the Manhattan federal court said on Monday.
Both sides canceled a scheduled Tuesday hearing on NYU’s motion to dismiss the case as part of the settlement. The terms of the settlement were not immediately available, and neither NYU, its lawyers, nor the students’ lawyers responded to requests for comment.
On the same day, Brown University agreed to bolster nondiscrimination training for employees and students to resolve a complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Education over its handling of discrimination and harassment claims, including those related to antisemitism.
NYU faced the lawsuit last November, one of the earliest of many lawsuits accusing major universities of allowing and even encouraging antisemitism following the outbreak of war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas on October 7, 2023. Students accused the school of violating federal civil rights law by enforcing its anti-discrimination policies unevenly, allowing chants such as “gas the Jews” and “Hitler was right” while ignoring other forms of bigotry.
In seeking dismissal, NYU argued that reports of antisemitism had significantly declined after an initial surge when the war began. The university claimed it had taken more steps than required by law to address student concerns, including adopting a “10 Point Plan” to enhance on-campus security and disciplining those who violated its anti-discrimination policies.
Other schools facing similar lawsuits include Carnegie-Mellon, Columbia, Harvard, MIT, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Pennsylvania.
