America’s largest law firms pen stern letter to Ivy League schools warning them they will not hire anti-Semites

A group of America’s top law firms have sent a message to elite law schools warning them to crack down on anti-Semitic demonstrations or they will stop hiring their students.

In a letter addressed simply to the “Deans,” about two dozen of the nation’s top Wall Street firms warned that what’s happening on campus could very well have corporate consequences.

“In recent weeks, we have been alarmed by reports of anti-Semitic harassment, vandalism and attacks on college campuses, including rallies calling for the death of Jews and the elimination of the State of Israel.

“Such anti-Semitic activity would not be tolerated at any of our firms,” said the letter, which was signed by firms including Kirkland & Ellis; Cravath, Swaine & Moore; Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher; and Sullivan & Cromwell.

The letter continued: ‘As employers who recruit from each of your law schools, we expect you to ensure that your students who wish to join our firm after graduation are prepared to be an active part of workplace communities that have a zero tolerance policy for any form. of discrimination or harassment, let alone the kind that takes place at some law schools.”

In a stern closing paragraph, the firms tell the ‘Deans’ that they “trust that you will take the same unequivocal position against such activities as we do, and we look forward to a respectful dialogue with you to understand how you approach this with urgency.” serious situation in your law schools.”

One of the companies that signed the letter, David Polk & Wardwell, last month withdrew several job offers for students who had signed letters blaming Israel for the barbaric October 7 Hamas terror attack.

Another prominent firm whose name did not appear in the letter, Winston & Strawn, has rescinded the job offer it previously made to Ryna Workman, the president of the NYU Law Student Bar Association.

Last month, the law student, who uses non-binary pronouns, wrote in a letter written and signed by Workman that “Israel bears full responsibility for this enormous loss of life,” adding: “I will not support the Palestinian resistance condemn.’

Winston & Strawn called Workman’s comments “inflammatory” and said they were “profoundly inconsistent” with the companies’ values.

At the time, the company said in a statement: “As communicated to all Winston employees yesterday, we remain outraged and deeply saddened by the violent attack on Israel over the weekend. Our thoughts go out to our Jewish colleagues, their families and all those affected.”

The companies’ letter follows a significant number of recent anti-Semitic episodes that have unfolded on college campuses, including — most recently — a number of seriously violent messages threatening the Jewish community at Cornell University.

Many university presidents have been chastised for taking often weak and ambiguous positions in response to the October 7 attack and the rise of anti-Semitism on campus more broadly.

Harvard President Claudine Gay was forced to make three statements about the terrorist attack after her first statement was labeled weak and insulting.

Joe Shenker, a senior chairman of Sullivan & Cromwell, told the New York Times’ DealBook that school officials across the board “were late to realize that Jewish students are actually scared — they feel threatened and they feel betrayed.”

The student (left) is blocked by an angry crowd of protesters chanting “Shame!” shouts. at him

A clearer view of the same Harvard protest caught on camera

A series of seriously violent messages threaten the Jewish community at Cornell University, in the latest anti-Semitic incident on a prestigious college campus

A statement signed by more than 30 Harvard student groups. It was published before Israel had taken a single reprisal for the Palestinian terrorist massacre that killed 1,400 people.

At Harvard University, a student identified as Ibrahim Bharmal – an editor of the Harvard Law Review – was seen on camera participating in an anti-Israel protest on the school’s campus in Cambridge, physically assaulting a Jewish student.

In the video, Bharmal and his fellow protesters followed, surrounded and intimidated a Jewish student on campus who was merely trying to walk past the crowd.

Dozens of people shouted: ‘Shame! Shame! Shame!’ at the student, who was forced to bend and twist as he tried to free himself from the swarm of bodies that kept him from moving.

The crowd tried to trap the student, surrounding him and blocking the road with keffiyehs – the traditional Middle Eastern male headdress that has come to symbolize Palestinian nationalism.

Bill Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, led the charge to name the Harvard students who issued a statement blaming Israel for the Hamas attack.

Members of the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee protest for the liberation of Palestine. Since releasing the statement, the group has claimed they have been unfairly targeted and has appealed for support

In addition to law firms, powerful alumni of a handful of prestigious institutions have withdrawn or threatened to withdraw their donations to their alma maters.

The University of Pennsylvania in particular has taken a major blow, led by Apollo CEO Marc Rowan, who admonished the Penn administration’s statements and handling of the protests in the aftermath of October 7, as well as the school’s role condemned when organizing a Palestinian literature festival that There were several well-known anti-Semites as speakers.

At Harvard, more than thirty student organizations signed a letter condemning Israel. This letter was written and distributed in the hours after the radical Palestinian terror attack that killed more than a thousand innocent Israelis.

Following the statement’s distribution, billionaire hedge fund manager and Harvard graduate Bill Ackman asked the university to release a list of the members of each of the 31 student organizations that had signed the statement.

He wrote that the purpose of releasing names would be “to ensure that none of us accidentally hire any of their members.”

“You should not be able to hide behind a corporate shield when making statements supporting the actions of terrorists, who, we now learn, have beheaded babies, among other unimaginably despicable acts,” Ackman wrote.

At least a dozen CEOs have publicly agreed with Ackman, saying they would also like to know the names so as not to accidentally hire a terrorist sympathizer.