Plaintiffs urge appeals court to revive lawsuit alleging insufficient antisemitism response at Penn

A lawyer representing Penn students argued on Wednesday that a previously dismissed lawsuit accusing the University of inadequately responding to antisemitism should be allowed to proceed.

The December 2023 lawsuit — filed by 2024 College graduate Eyal Yakoby and rising College senior Jordan Davis — alleged that Penn failed to appropriately address antisemitism on campus. The May 27 appearance before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit comes after Judge Mitchell Goldberg dismissed the suit in June 2025. 

Amit Vora argued for the plaintiffs, while the University was represented by Seth Waxman.

Vora argued that inaction by Penn prevented students from feeling safe on campus and harmed their learning environment. In response, Waxman stated that the University had taken numerous steps to address anti-Jewish hate, including the creation of a task force against antisemitism in November 2023.

Requests for comment were left with a University spokesperson and the plaintiffs. Waxman declined a request to comment.

Goldberg attributed his dismissal of the lawsuit to the fact that there were “no allegations” that Penn has taken any actions which could “be interpreted as antisemitic with the intention of causing harm to the Plaintiffs.” At the time, he wrote that the plaintiffs would have another opportunity to file an amended complaint for two of the alleged violations.

In October 2025, the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law — a Jewish legal rights advocacy group — filed an amicus brief in the appeals court requesting that Goldberg’s dismissal be overturned. The brief accused Penn and the district court of ignoring a “hostile educational environment” for Jewish students. 

The initial lawsuit — which was filed in a district court and grew to include 2025 Wharton and Engineering graduate Noah Rubin and the group Students Against Antisemitism as plaintiffs — was brought under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, and national origin in programs receiving federal financial assistance. The plaintiffs accused Penn of failing to enforce its own policies to protect Jewish students from discrimination, harassment, and intimidation on campus.

The plaintiffs also cited antisemitic slurs — including “intifada revolution” and “from the river to the sea” — and antisemitic graffiti around campus as examples of how they were deprived of the opportunity to fully engage in Penn’s community.

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