Greater than two dozen prime US legislation companies despatched a letter to greater than 100 legislation faculty deans telling them to take an “unequivocal stance” towards antisemitic harassment on their campuses.
The letter, which was signed by companies together with Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP and Wachtell Lipton Rosen and Katz LLP, comes after some legislation college students noticed their job affords rescinded for feedback made about Hamas’s Oct. 7 assault that killed 1,400 Israelis. Israel’s retaliatory bombing of Gaza, which is managed by Hamas, has fueled protests throughout the nation.
Antisemitic incidents have soared because the conflict started, and the battle has bitterly divided dozens of campuses, together with Harvard College, Stanford College and the College of Pennsylvania. Presidents at Harvard, Penn and Columbia College have introduced activity forces on antisemitism.
At Cornell College, a collection of antisemitic incidents culminated in a junior engineering scholar being charged with making on-line dying threats to Jewish college students. A swastika was discovered drawn in Columbia’s Worldwide Affairs constructing, and movies have circulated of what seems to be Harvard college students harassing a Jewish scholar throughout an anti-Israel protest.
“Anti-Semitic actions wouldn’t be tolerated at any of our companies. We additionally wouldn’t tolerate exterior teams partaking in acts of harassment and threats of violence, as has additionally been occurring on lots of your campuses,” the legislation companies’ letter stated.
The letter was written this week by Joseph C. Shenker, senior chair of Sullivan & Cromwell, after he was contacted by Jewish legislation college students from prime universities. He circulated the draft to the opposite companies, every of which despatched a duplicate to the legislation faculties they work with on Wednesday evening, Shenker stated in an interview.
When requested if the companies would curtail recruiting from faculties the place they’ve seen regarding conduct, Shenker stated, “Individuals can draw their very own conclusions. The letter speaks for itself.”
“We’re asking the deans to create a secure setting for all their college students the place one is handled with respect,” he stated. “That’s what we require at our companies. I imagine the deans are working in direction of that.”
Antisemitic incidents together with assaults, harassment and vandalism soared 400% throughout the US since Oct. 7, with 54 incidents reported on campuses, in response to the Anti-Defamation League. The group tallied 110 anti-Israel rallies on campuses in that interval, with 27 together with expressions of assist for terrorism.
Hours after the assault by Hamas, which is deemed a terrorist group by the US and European Union, greater than 30 scholar teams at Harvard positioned the duty for the violence on Israel. It took criticism from Harvard’s former president, Larry Summers, earlier than the college’s management denounced the assault and stated the scholars didn’t converse for them.
At New York College, the scholar bar affiliation president additionally laid blame on Israel in a put up to legislation college students. Regulation agency Winston & Strawn rescinded an employment provide to that scholar, who was beforehand a summer time affiliate, after studying of the “inflammatory” feedback. Davis Polk & Wardwell additionally rescinded job affords to a few legislation college students at Harvard and Columbia after organizations they had been a part of made controversial statements concerning the Hamas assault.
“As employers who recruit from every of your legislation faculties, we glance to you to make sure your college students who hope to hitch our companies after commencement are ready to be an lively a part of office communities which have zero tolerance insurance policies for any type of discrimination or harassment, a lot much less the sort that has been going down on some legislation faculty campuses,” the legislation companies’ letter stated.
Yvette Ostolaza, chair of the administration committee at Sidley Austin LLP, stated she was grateful that Shenker took the lead in ensuring the authorized trade was unified of their assertion to legislation faculties.
“It’s essential throughout occasions whenever you see evil taking place and it impacts your colleagues and your shoppers to talk up and stand for what’s proper,” she stated.
President Joe Biden this week introduced measures to “counter the alarming uptick” in antisemitism in faculties and faculty campuses, together with having the Division of Schooling expedite its replace of the consumption course of for complaints below Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to state that sure types of discrimination towards Jews are towards the legislation.
A spokesman for Harvard Regulation College declined to remark and Yale Regulation College didn’t reply to requests for remark.
