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The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, a small private four-year college in Lower Manhattan, will make major changes to its protest and anti-racism policies to settle a lawsuit brought by Jewish students who accused the school of condoning racism.
As reported by the New York Times, the settlement was announced on Thursday by lawyers representing 10 Jewish students and will require the New York City college to determine that harassment or discrimination based on an individual’s Zionist beliefs, or his Jewishness, violates their discrimination policies.
Other conditions in the agreement require the college to prohibit protesting students from wearing masks to hide their identity and to pre-approve all student-made posters and flyers to ensure they do not contain racist messages.
MADANI PRETENDED TO COUNT THEM ALL BUT GAVE AN ORDER TO THE JEWISH DISCIPLES TO PROTECT THEM.
An anti-Israel protest moved to the Cooper Union in New York City on Oct. 2023, as Jewish students occupy the library, which was reportedly locked for their safety. (Credit: Taylor Roslyn Lent)
Ziporah Reich, an attorney representing Jewish students, said that while the First Amendment allows Americans to freely criticize Zionism, doing so in a widespread or targeted manner can turn into harassment, the Times reported.
Reich, who serves as director of pro bono litigation for the Lawfare Project, a pro-Israel legal organization that represents students, issued a statement following the settlement.
“Jewish students deserve to learn without being targeted, harassed, or excluded because of who they are or what they believe,” Reich said. “Universities have a legal duty to protect them.”
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Foundation Building, Cooper Union, New York City, New York. (General Photography Group)
Cooper Union President Steven W. McLaughlin said in a statement that the agreement “demonstrates our continued commitment to maintaining an institution where every student in our community feels respected, safe and included.”
The college came under fire in October 2023 after Jewish students barricaded themselves inside the school’s library while an anti-Israel rally passed through the building, with protesters banging on doors and chanting “Free, free Palestine.”
The video recording this incident spread on social media, which caused a lot of tension and led many Jewish students to sue the school.
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Anti-Israel protesters gather outside the New York University campus in New York on Friday, May 3, 2024. (Rashid Umar Abbasi of Fox News Digital)
Last February, a New York judge called out Cooper Union for its lack of action amid rising antisemitism and denied its motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Jewish students.
“Title VI places a responsibility on colleges and universities to protect their Jewish students from harassment, not on those students to hide in the proverbial basement or try to escape from their rightful place,” U.S. District Judge John Cronan wrote in his Feb. 5, 2025.
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on race, color, and national origin in any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.
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Fox News’ Rachel del Guidice contributed to this report.
