New York’s Cooper Union settles campus antisemitism case, pledges reforms
College reaches settlement with 10 Jewish students who were locked in a library amid unruly anti-Israel protest weeks after October 7 attack
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NEW YORK (Reuters) — Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art will take steps to reduce antisemitism and other harassment on campus, in order to settle a lawsuit claiming it failed to help Jewish students who were locked inside a library as protection against pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
The settlement was announced on Thursday by lawyers for 10 Jewish students who said the private Manhattan college’s fostering of a hostile educational environment violated Title VI, a section of US civil rights law that bars recipients of federal funds from allowing discrimination based on race, religion and national origin.
Cooper Union will create a Title VI coordinator to oversee its handling of discrimination and harassment, train employees and students on its policies, and prohibit the wearing of masks to conceal identities at demonstrations, the lawyers said. It will also pay unspecified compensation to the 10 students.
“Jewish students deserve to learn without being targeted, harassed, or excluded because of who they are or what they believe,” Ziporah Reich, director of litigation at the pro bono Lawfare Project, a pro-Israel legal group that represents the students, said in a statement. “Universities have a legal duty to protect them.”
Cooper Union and its lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
After Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, US colleges and universities faced many lawsuits claiming they encouraged or permitted antisemitism on campus and made Jewish students and faculty feel unsafe. Columbia University, Harvard University and New York University are among the schools that have settled.
The lawsuit against Cooper Union followed an October 25, 2023, rally outside the library where pro-Palestinian demonstrators stormed past security guards, banged loudly on doors and windows, carried signs and chanted “Free Palestine.”
Students inside said they felt unsafe. They also said school administrators did nothing to stop the rally and told police who offered help to back off.
Last February, US District Judge John Cronan in Manhattan refused to dismiss the lawsuit, saying free speech protections did not justify how the students were treated.
Cooper Union is in Manhattan’s East Village. It offers degrees in art, architecture and engineering.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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