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<\/a><\/p>\nA woman affixes a flier for Israeli hostages to Cooper Union College in New York City, a day after Jewish students sheltered in a library during a pro-Palestinian protest, Oct. 26, 2023. (Luke Tress)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The Manhattan engineering college has agreed to pay an unspecified sum to 10 affected Jewish students, create a Title VI coordinator position who will monitor cases \u201cincluding discrimination or harassment based on antisemitism or anti-Zionism,\u201d and ban masks at protests.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis landmark settlement is the result of the extraordinary courage of the students who came forward to demand accountability from Cooper Union,\u201d Ziporah Reich, an attorney with the pro-Israel legal group The Lawfare Project, said in a statement announcing the settlement. The Lawfare Project sued the school on behalf of the Jewish students.<\/p>\n
Reich\u2019s statement continued, \u201cJewish students deserve to learn without being targeted, harassed, or excluded because of who they are or what they believe. This case sends a clear message that universities have a legal duty to protect them and will be held accountable when they fail to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a statement, Cooper Union\u2019s president Steven W. McLaughlin said the settlement \u201creflects our ongoing commitment to maintaining a campus where every student in our community feels respected, safe, and included.\u201d <\/p>\n
McLaughlin, who became president last year following the resignation of the school\u2019s previous president, continued, \u201cWe are dedicated to continuing our efforts to confront discrimination of any kind, including antisemitism, and to fostering a productive culture of curiosity and compassion. Settling this litigation is an important step as we move forward.\u201d <\/p>\n
Cooper Union Hillel\/Midrash, a student-run Jewish organization that several of the plaintiffs belong to, did not immediately return a request for comment.<\/p>\n
In the immediate weeks after Oct. 7, The Cooper Union was one of the first colleges thrust into the national spotlight for alleged antisemitic behavior on campus. Viral video showed Jewish students having barricaded themselves in the campus library for 20 minutes while pro-Palestinian protesters pounded on the doors and shouted slogans.<\/p>\n
Under President Joe Biden, the Department of Education opened a Title VI civil rights investigation into the school. The Jewish students separately sued the school over their treatment, a suit The Cooper Union attempted to have thrown out. Last year a judge ruled the lawsuit could continue.<\/p>\n
The settlement comes as the Trump administration has more aggressively prosecuted other elite colleges for fostering antisemitic environments, freezing federal grants and forcing large payouts. It also comes days after New York City\u2019s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, reversed an executive order for the city to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Association\u2019s definition of antisemitism.<\/p>\n
As part of The Cooper Union\u2019s settlement, the private school\u2019s new Title VI coordinator \u201cwill implement all applicable guidance\u201d established under Biden to consider IHRA in discrimination cases, the school\u2019s statement said.<\/p>\n