Several law firms have urged universities, including Yale, Harvard and Columbia, to share their plans for addressing antisemitism on campuses|John Phelan|CC BY 3.0
More than two dozen top US law firms have urged law schools to address the rising antisemitism and intimidation on their campuses following the Israel-Hamas war.
Initiated by Joe Shenker, senior chair of Sullivan & Cromwell, the collective effort by 27 firms saw a letter dispatched to more than 100 law school deans—including Yale, Harvard and Columbia—to share their plans for addressing the situation.
They further expressed hesitation in hiring students from these law schools, and two of them—Winston & Strawn and Davis Polk & Wardwell—rescinded their employment offers to the colleges.
How it started?
Initially, long-standing billionaire donors of Ivy League universities threatened to take away their contributions, making it clear they were not happy with the universities’ response to the Israel-Hamas war.
Several student unions blamed Israel as “entirely responsible for all the unfolding violence” following the October 7 attacks by Hamas.
Over 30 student groups at Harvard blamed Israel, prompting criticism from former president Larry Summers.
Soon, several of these student protests called for the death of Jews and the elimination of the state of Israel, which has led to the law firms collectively condemning violence, hatred and bigotry within educational communities.
The ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip continues to escalate.
Al Jazeera says that since October 7, around 9,061 Palestinians have died due to Israeli army attacks on Gaza.