The Ivy League university is considering a $500 million deal as a way to end its months-long battle with the administration, according to the New York Times
...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
. News of the possible deal comes shortly after Columbia University agreed to a settlement as well, agreeing to pay more than $200 million for its antisemitism violation.
''It doesn't cross the red lines that we laid out. It protects our academic integrity. That was of course essential for us,'' Claire Shipman, Columbia's acting president, told CNN
...formerly the
Cable News Network, now who know what it might stand for...
last week.
According to the New York Times, Harvard could be next. Citing four unnamed sources, Harvard is ropen to a potential settlement to end the investigation into campus antisemitism.
''From a legal perspective, it makes sense to have a settlement. It avoids a lot of potential conflicts in the future,'' said attorney and political analyst Madeline Summerville.
The Trump administration has gone after Harvard since April. It has cut billions in funding while also demanding an overhaul of its leadership structure, admissions and hiring. The university previously rejected those demands, instead filing two lawsuits.
Trump administration refers Harvard to Justice Department in civil rights probe
[IsraelTimes] Feds tell Ivy League school that their negotiations have been fruitless, leaving them no choice but to initiate proceedings to address school’s ‘antisemitic discrimination’
US President Donald Trump’s administration has sent a letter to Harvard University saying it has referred the school to the US Justice Department to address allegations of “Harvard’s antisemitic discrimination.”
In late June, the Trump administration said an investigation had concluded that Harvard violated federal civil rights law for failing to address harassment of Jewish and Israeli students.
“The parties’ several months’ engagement has been fruitless,” said the letter dated Wednesday from the US Department of Health and Human Services to Harvard’s leadership. “OCR (Office for Civil Rights), therefore, has no choice but to refer the matter to DOJ to initiate appropriate proceedings to address Harvard’s antisemitic discrimination.”
The New York Times reported on Monday that Harvard was open to spending up to $500 million to end its dispute with the government.
Harvard had no immediate comment on Wednesday’s letter.
| I’m taking the opportunity to drop this weeks collections of articles on the subject here, rather than wait until Sunday. They’re a mixed bag again this week instead of being all horrid. |
[CollegeFix] Stanford University has suspended for one year a pair of student co-ops for Title VI violations, one antisemitic in nature and the other anti-white. As noted by The Stanford Daily, Title VI is the federal law banning “harassment and discrimination based on race, color or national origin in educational institutions.”
The school’s co-ops, or cooperative houses, are “student-managed residences in which house members cooperate in the operation and governance of the house.”
According to the Daily, the Stanford Title VI Office received “several reports” about the Kairos co-op after some students “participating in an extracurricular activity in the house were asked to leave.”
The reason was that “Zionists” present were “making residents of the house uncomfortable” … despite none of the activity’s participants discussing politics.
“The investigation determined that students were targeted based on their perceived Jewish identity,” Stanford said in a statement.
Kairos “fosters BIPOC solidarity as well as arts appreciation” and features a land acknowledgment to the Muwekma Ohlone people on its website.
Residence assistants of the other co-op, the Enchanted Broccoli Forrest (a “loosely arts-themed co-op dedicated to empowering BIPOC, gender-marginalized, queer, and [first-generation/limited-income] voices,” pictured) sent out an email to incoming student residents informing them the EBF “is committed to being a place of refuge for those who are black, brown, gender-marginalized, and FLI.”
Janitors trapped by pro-Palestinian mob reach settlement with Columbia University
[CollegeFix] Two janitors at Columbia University who allege pro-Palestinian protesters trapped them inside a building recently reached a settlement with the institution in connection to its larger agreement with the Trump administration. The settlement with Lester Wilson and Mario Torres comes out of the $20 million that Columbia promised the Trump administration it would pay “employees who alleged they suffered civil rights violations,” the New York Post reports.
“The university set up the situation and ended up putting them into that situation, now the issue is holding accountable those who carried it out and were responsible for the takeover and the assault,” center president Alyza Lewin told the NY Post:
While that wraps up Wilson’s and Torres’ battle against Columbia, the two men are still forging ahead with their lawsuit against more than 40 protesters whom they allege held them hostage during the Hamilton Hall riot last year. …
Neither Wilson nor Torres is Jewish, but the two men were horrified and traumatized by the storm of anti-Israel protests that ripped through campus in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack.
Neither Wilson nor Torres is Jewish, but the two men were horrified and traumatized by the storm of anti-Israel protests that ripped through campus in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack.
In April 2024, pro-Palestinian protesters took over Hamilton Hall on campus while Wilson and Torres were still inside. The janitors allege in the lawsuit that protesters “trapped” them inside the building, and they had to fight their way out.
Torres was shoved and struck on the back repeatedly, and one masked protester threatened him, saying, “I’m going to get twenty guys up here to f— you up,’” according to the lawsuit. Since then, neither have returned to work, according to the report.
In their case against the university, the janitors also alleged Columbia leaders ignored repeated acts of vandalism since the fall of 2023. This included “dozens” of swastikas that they had to clean off buildings, according to the NY Post.
UCLA settles antisemitism suit with $6.13m payout, as feds allege discrimination
[IsraelTimes] Plaintiffs, who alleged that protesters created ‘Jew Exclusion Zone’ during 2024 demos over Gaza war, welcome settlement that includes court order ensuring access to public spaces
Harvard says it will hand over employment forms demanded by Trump administration
[IsraelTimes] University says the law demands it comply with request for documents confirming employees’ legal status in the US, but holds off on sharing files that only relate to students.
Princeton Student Accused of Assault at Pro-Palestine Protest Sues for ‘Incredible Betrayal’
[FreePress] In 2024, David Piegaro attended a pro-Palestine rally on Princeton University’s campus as a self-described “citizen journalist.” A Jewish student from Trenton, New Jersey, he had enrolled at Princeton as an undergraduate after six years of service in the U.S. Army and the New Jersey National Guard
After filming chaos on campus, the student was allegedly shoved down the stairs by Princeton’s public safety chief and wound up in the hospital.
He was arrested at the bottom of the steps and charged with assault, trespassing, resisting arrest, and obstruction. The man in the suit was Kenneth Strother, Princeton’s assistant vice president for public safety. In a sworn statement, Strother said that he was the victim and that Piegaro fell down the stairs only because he had resisted arrest.
In April, a New Jersey judge found Piegaro not guilty of all the charges, concluding that he might “have been unwise, or even defiant, but it does not amount to reckless disregard.”
On Wednesday, Piegaro filed a lawsuit against Princeton and Strother in a federal court in New Jersey, alleging violations of his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights, use of excessive force, wrongful imprisonment, fabrication of evidence, and more. While the suit doesn’t allege discrimination under Title IV of the Higher Education Act, Piegaro told us that “it was very obvious that I was treated differently from the other students who were arrested the same day that had a different outcome.”
Misdemeanor charges against 13 pro-Palestine protesters accused of trespassing were eventually dismissed, with a judge ordering the students to do community service and write an apology letter to Princeton. A prosecutor said that Princeton officials “did not desire these folks to have permanent records, criminal records, as a result of this.”
Piegaro’s lawsuit is among dozens filed by Jewish students since the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, led to the eruption of anti-Israel protests at colleges and universities across the United States. Part of what makes his allegations unusual is the central role of Strother, who is responsible for student safety at Princeton. Piegaro, who graduated in May, alleged that a student was initially told that the investigation “likely would not lead to any disciplinary action” because of inconsistencies by witnesses.
After his arrest, Piegaro was put in a holding cell before he was transported to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with broken ribs and a concussion, the lawsuit alleged.
But after Princeton heard Strother’s side of the story, Piegaro was put on disciplinary probation for nine months, banned from campus, and kicked out of his housing, according to the suit. Two days after Piegaro’s acquittal, Strother was one of six Princeton staff members awarded the President’s Achievement Award. “Even in these most challenging situations,” Princeton associate dean of undergraduate students Jarrett Fisher wrote, “I’ve observed Ken demonstrate the most incredible degree of patience, grace, and diplomacy.” Princeton has said that it had no comment on the charges filed against Piegaro. Michael Hotchkiss, Assistant Vice President for Communications, told The Free Press that “The University believes the complaint to be entirely without merit and plans to mount a vigorous defense. We look forward to a fair trial and expect our position to be fully vindicated.”
Harvard announces partnership with Israeli universities following anti-Semitism agreement.
The EU research door closed, a Harvard window opened.
Harvard Divinity School Project Was Shut Down After Allegations of Antisemitism
[HotAir] The Religion and Public Life initiative was announced back in 2020 as the first new degree program at Harvard Divinity School in 50 years. By this year it was being dismantled.
Since January, all three of the program’s leaders and most of its staff have left or not had their contracts renewed amid internal and external allegations of antisemitism against the program. It will continue to operate under new leadership this fall, but with vast changes.
As pro-Palestinian demonstrations swept campuses, including Harvard, criticism of the program grew. The statement and the program’s events were cited in a lawsuit by former divinity school student Shabbos Kestenbaum and a recently formed nonprofit organization called Students Against Antisemitism Inc. as examples of ways that antisemitism allegedly permeated Harvard.
Harvard was unable to get the case dismissed and wound up settling with Kestenbaum in May.
Again, the article points out the pushback to the RPL initiative goes back long before Trump was reelected, but his pressure on Harvard may have been the last straw. When the Trump administration announced an investigation into anti-Semitism at Harvard in March the school responded two weeks later with an announcement that RPL was being overhauled. It was by that point some low-hanging fruit that could be pointed to in an effort to show Harvard was serious about dealing with anti-Semitism on campus.