Concerned by the rampant antisemitism displayed on college campuses across the nation expressing support for the terrorist attacks on civilians in Israel, some of the nation’s most powerful law firms are sending a warning to elite universities and their students.
There will be real world consequences for embracing antisemitism.
A letter, signed by more than two dozen law firms, is warning universities to crack down on antisemitism on campus or the schools, and their students, or they will face consequences.
Spearheaded by Joe Shenker, senior chair of Sullivan & Cromwell, CNN reports the letter was sent on Monday to law school deans at Yale, Harvard, Columbia, the University of Virginia, Georgetown, the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, the University of Michigan, New York University and Stanford.
The letter, obtained by CNN, reads:
Dear Deans,
Everyone at our law firms is entitled to be treated with respect and be free of any conduct that targets their identity and is offensive, hostile, intimidating or inconsistent with their personal dignity and rights. We prohibit any form of harassment, whether verbal, visual or physical.
Over the last several weeks, we have been alarmed at reports of anti-Semitic harassment, vandalism and assaults on college campuses, including rallies calling for the death of Jews and the elimination of the State of Israel. Such anti-Semitic activities would not be tolerated at any of our firms. We also would not tolerate outside groups engaging in acts of harassment and threats of violence, as has also been occurring on many of your campuses.
As educators at institutions of higher learning, it is imperative that you provide your students with the tools and guidance to engage in the free exchange of ideas, even on emotionally charged issues, in a manner that affirms the values we all hold dear and rejects unreservedly that which is antithetical to those values. There is no room for anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, racism or any other form of violence, hatred or bigotry on your campuses, in our workplaces or our communities.
As employers who recruit from each of your law schools, we look to you to ensure your students who hope to join our firms after graduation are prepared to be an active part of workplace communities that have zero tolerance policies for any form of discrimination or harassment, much less the kind that has been taking place on some law school campuses.
We trust you will take the same unequivocal stance against such activities as we do, and we look forward to a respectful dialogue with you to understand how you are addressing with urgency this serious situation at your law schools.
(Letter obtained by CNN)
Some of the most sought-after firms signed the letter and more continue to sign on. The full list of current signatories includes:
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP Cooley LLP
Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP Debevoise & Plimpton LLP Dechert LLP
Dentons US LLP
DLA Piper LLP (US)
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Goodwin Procter LLP
Greenberg Traurig, LLP
Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP Latham & Watkins LLP
Lowenstein Sandler LLP Mayer Brown LLP
McDermott Will & Emery LLP Milbank LLP
Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
O’Melveny & Myers LLP
Paul Hastings LLP
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP Proskauer Rose LLP
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan UK LLP Ropes & Gray LLP
Schulte Roth + Zabel LLP
Shearman & Sterling LLP
Sidley Austin LLP
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen, and Katz Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP White & Case LLP
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
Some students have already faced consequences for siding with terrorists.
The Gateway Pundit reported that Ryna Workman, the far-left non-binary president of the president of New York University’s Student Bar Association, used her position and access to a weekly law school newsletter to send a disgusting pro-Hamas message on Tuesday cheering the terror attack on civilians.
The New York Post shared that, a few hours after Workman’s message was publicized, a job offer from the law firm of Winston & Strawn was rescinded.
Colleges and Universities are also facing backlash from some of their largest donors that have started pulling their support.
Victoria’s Secret founder Leslie Wexner announced he would cut ties to Harvard over the debacle.
David Magerman, who helped build the hedge fund Renaissance Technology (RenTech), has cut ties with University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) over the university’s lack of condemning the attack and the “fierce support for the Hamas-affiliated speakers at the Palestine Writes Festival.”
After 31 Harvard University student groups signed a letter blaming Israel as “entirely responsible” for Hamas’ barbaric slaughter of innocent Israelis, hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman called on Harvard on to release all of the names of the students that are members of these 31 anti-Semitic campus groups.
Ackman wants to make sure these young Hamas supporters are never hired by a Wall Street firm.