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The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, a small private four-year college in Lower Manhattan, will make sweeping changes to its protest and anti-discrimination policies to find a solution Complaint by Jewish students who accused the school of condoning anti-Semitism.
As reported by According to the New York Times, the settlement was announced Thursday by lawyers representing 10 Jewish students and requires New York City College to acknowledge that harassment or discrimination based on a person’s Zionist beliefs or Jewish identity violates its discrimination policies.
Other provisions of the settlement require the college to prohibit student protesters from wearing masks to conceal their identities and to pre-approve all posters and flyers created by students to ensure they do not contain discriminatory messages.
In October 2023, an anti-Israel protest occurred through the Cooper Union in New York City when Jewish students remained in the library, which was reportedly locked for their safety. (Image credit: Taylor Roslyn Lent)
Ziporah Reich, the attorney representing the Jewish students, said that during the First Amendment allows Americans to freely criticize Zionism, and if they do so pervasively or specifically against individuals, it could lead to harassment, the Times reported.
Reich, who works as a litigation director at the Pro Bono Lawfare Project, a pro-Israel legal organization that represents the students, issued a statement after the settlement.
“Jewish students deserve to learn without being targeted, harassed or excluded because of their identity or faith,” Reich said. “Universities have a legal duty to protect them.”
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Foundation Building, Cooper Union, New York City, New York. (Universal Images Group)
Cooper Union President Steven W. McLaughlin said in a statement that the agreement “reflects our ongoing commitment to maintaining a campus where every student in our community feels respected, safe and included.”
The university came into the spotlight for Jewish students in October 2023 was caught in the school library as an anti-Israel rally moved through the building, with protesters banging on doors and chanting “Free, free Palestine.”
A video capturing the scene went viral on social media, sparking widespread backlash and prompting several Jewish students to sue the school.
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Anti-Israel protesters gather outside the New York University campus on Friday, May 3, 2024, in New York. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)
Last February, a New York judge shouted Cooper Union for inaction in the face of rising anti-Semitism and rejected its motion to dismiss the Jewish students’ lawsuit.
“Title VI places the responsibility on colleges and universities to protect their Jewish students from harassment, not on those students to hide in a proverbial attic or attempt to escape from a place they have a right to,” said U.S. District Judge John Cronan wrote in his opinion on February 5, 2025.
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on race, color, and national origin in any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.
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Fox News’ Rachel del Guidice contributed to this report.
