Brandeis Center Sues MIT Over Title VI Antisemitic Discrimination Involving Professor After October 2023 Attacks

The Brandeis Center has filed a federal lawsuit against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), alleging antisemitic discrimination and harassment against Jewish students and faculty in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The suit, brought on behalf of two Jewish individuals—a student and a faculty member—claims that MIT and a tenured professor created and allowed a hostile antisemitic environment on campus, particularly following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in Israel. The lawsuit details instances of harassment via social media and mass emails and accuses university officials of failing to address the pervasive antisemitism, which led a Jewish graduate student to leave their Ph.D. program. The complaint characterizes MIT as a "breeding ground" for antisemitism and highlights that despite congressional scrutiny during a December 2023 House hearing on campus antisemitism, MIT President Sally Kornbluth remains in her position amid ongoing concerns about Jewish hatred at the institution.