Berkeley sued over campus antisemitism

UC Berkeley and its law school is violating federal law and its own policies by failing to protect Jewish students, especially in the wake of Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas in Israel and that country's military response, a lawsuit alleged Tuesday morning.

The complaint was filed in San Francisco by the Louis D. Brandeis Center against the Regents of the University of California, UC Berkeley, and UC Berkeley School of Law, as well as UC President Michael Drake, UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol T. Christ and UC Berkeley Provost Ben Hermalin.

"This suit targets the longstanding, unchecked spread of anti-Semitism" at UC Berkeley, the complaint states, which it said "has erupted in on-campus displays of hatred, harassment, and physical violence against Jews," according to the complaint by the Brandeis Center and attorneys with Ellis George Cipollone O'Brien LLP.

"Court intervention is now needed to protect students and faculty and to end this anti-Semitic discrimination and harassment, which violates University policy, federal civil rights laws, and the U.S. Constitution," it stated.

"By abdicating responsibility and failing to act as required by UC rules and U.S. law, the University has enabled the normalization of anti-Jewish hatred on campus," the complaint added, citing an alleged physical attack and emails sent to Jewish students calling for their murder.

L. Rachel Lerman, the Brandeis Center's general counsel and vice chair, said the complaint against UC Berkeley is the first federal lawsuit against a university. The organization also has filed civil rights complaints with the U.S. Department of Education against the University of Pennsylvania and Wellesley College.

The department's Office of Civil Rights is investigating seven universities for antisemitism or Islamophobia, according to a published report.

Tensions have been high on campuses across the country since the Hamas attacks and Israel's response, as long-simmering tensions over disagreements about the region have led to angry demonstrations on campus and online.

Groups such as Berkeley Law Students for Justice in Palestine have also denounced the university, accusing it for "funding genocide" in an Instagram post earlier this month while promoting a Wednesday event at UC Berkeley's Pauley Ballroom.

The complaint targets the policies of 23 UC Berkeley School of Law student organizations, which it said bars Zionist speakers from speaking to them unless they repudiate their views.

"It's appalling that my alma mater is excluding students from student groups based on their identity," said Lerman, a graduate of UC Berkeley School of Law, in a phone interview.

"It's a bit like asking gay students to stay in the closet," she added.

Members of three student groups must support the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, according to the complaint, and others require volunteers who provide pro bono legal services to go through a training program that "emphasizes the illegitimacy of the state of Israel."

Lerman said the complaint "is not about viewpoint" but about the actions of student groups that receive university funding and support to exclude Jewish students and the refusal of UC Berkeley officials to do anything about it.

"If they're saying no Zionists, they're saying no Jews," Lerman said.

The complaint accuses the university of violating the equal protection clause and free exercise clause of the U.S. Constitution, interfering with the right to contract, and violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

It asks a federal judge to enjoin the university from allowing registered student organizations to exclude Jews, as well as funding or granting the groups any official recognition.

The complaint also asks that the university enforce its nondiscrimination and "all-comers" policy as well as ensure that Jewish students are protected physically and not discriminated against, including those for whom Zionism is an "integral part of that identity."

It also demands that the university "end the hostile environment on campus" by communicating that officials will condemn, investigate and punish any harassment of Jewish students, conduct mandatory training about antisemitism, and impose strict reviews to ensure that the administration does not finance programs that discriminate against Jews.

Steven Davidoff Solomon, a UC Berkeley School of Law professor who wrote a Wall Street Journal opinion piece calling on law firms not to hire law students who have blamed Israel for the Hamas attacks, criticized UC Berkeley's response.

"The administration is refusing to take serious steps needed to address significant issues Jewish students face," he said in a phone interview. "Our students don't feel safe."