February 13, 2024
Thom Carroll/For PhillyVoice
The University of Pennsylvania has filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit from two Jewish students who claim it failed to properly respond to antisemitism on campus.
The University of Pennsylvania has moved to dismiss a lawsuit from two Jewish students who claim it has failed to remedy antisemitism on campus.
In a brief filed Monday, the university argued that the lawsuit should be dismissed because the Ivy League school is actively working to combat antisemitism. The brief says Penn is working with law enforcement agencies to investigate various acts of antisemitism that occurred last semester, and that arrests have been made. It also notes that Penn has created a task force to address the issue.
"The tragic events of October 7 have posed challenges for universities across the country," the brief concludes. "Penn is no different in that regard. But this lawsuit is not the right vehicle to figure out the way forward."
A Penn spokesperson declined to comment.
The lawsuit, filed in December by students Eyal Yakoby and Jordan Davis, claims that Penn violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Their suit calls Penn an "incubation lab for virulent anti-Jewish hatred, harassment, and discrimination."
The students pointed to several incidents that occurred last semester, including the Palestine Writes Literature Festival, which the lawsuit calls an "anti-Jewish hatefest" that "calls to mind" the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. Their lawsuit cites a pro-Palestine protest in December by the same group that demonstrated outside Goldie, an Israeli-owned restaurant in Center City, saying students vandalized multiple Penn buildings.
Yakoby and Davis also allege Jewish students have had slurs shouted at them on campus and have had to walk through buildings with antisemitic graffiti.
Their lawsuit demands Penn terminate any employees who engage in antisemitism, and suspend or expel students who do so. Yakoby and Davis also are seeking tuition refunds.
Penn is in the midst of a U.S. House investigation into its handling of antisemitism on campus. Late last month, lawmakers ordered the university to turn over documents related to antisemitic behavior on campus.
The U.S. Department of Education also had been investigating Penn. But it dropped its case after Yakoby and Davis filed their lawsuit, because they contained the same allegations.
In December, Liz Magill resigned as president after her testimony at a congressional hearing on antisemitism on college campuses drew widespread criticism. Hours later, Scott Bok resigned as the chair of Penn's board of trustees. He was replaced by Ramanan Raghavendran earlier this year.
Last week, interim President Larry Jameson condemned political cartoons created by a Penn lecturer as antisemitic.
