Haverford College and a Jewish group suing the school over its handling of antisemitism allegations have reached a settlement, according to federal court documents.
The documents in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania did not include details of the settlement, but a lawyer for the plaintiffs says Haverford President Wendy Raymond’s statement to the college community immediately following the settlement announcement Friday was part of it.
“I want to take this opportunity to publicly acknowledge that those members of our community with a commitment to the state of Israel as the Jewish homeland have been deeply hurt by events that have transpired on our campus since Oct. 7, 2023, and that that constitutes a failure on our part,” wrote Raymond, who leads the 1,470-student highly selective liberal arts college on the Main Line. “We commit ourselves to doing better going forward.”
The lawsuit was filed in May 2024 as tensions mounted on many college campuses, including Haverford, in the wake of the Israel-Gaza war, following Hamas’ 2023 attack on Israel. In their complaint, the plaintiffs, three students and the group Jews at Haverford, alleged that the college discriminated against Jews by tolerating antisemitic speech and failing to adequately support Jewish students, some of whom have been shunned on campus and prohibited from participating in group discussions where the war was discussed.
They are represented by an attorney for The Deborah Project, a public interest think tank that defends the rights of Jewish people facing discrimination in the education system.
Raymond, in her statement, repeatedly stated that students who support Zionism, which she defined as “the right of the Jewish people to self-determination and statehood in the land of Israel,” are welcome at Haverford and will have “equal access” to all educational programs and activities.
“Harassing, excluding, or seeking to silence Jewish community members on the basis of their beliefs, their commitment to Jewish observance, or any other element of their Jewish identity, including Zionism, is anathema to the college’s core principles of trust, concern, and respect,” she wrote, noting that the policy applies to offices, classrooms, and student-led organizations and activities.
She said such behavior is a violation of college policy and that those who engage in it would be subject to disciplinary action, and that no Haverford professor can discriminate against or treat differently students based on their commitment to Judaism, Israel, or Zionism.
Support of Zionism has been a flashpoint in the debate over what constitutes antisemitism, with some arguing it’s wrong to conflate antisemitism with anti-Zionism.
Lori Lowenthal Marcus, an attorney for The Deborah Project, which represents plaintiffs, called the settlement “fantastic.” She said Raymond’s statement was part of the settlement, and Marcus said she would be releasing more details on Saturday.
“Plaintiffs are very pleased that they will be protected and respected on Haverford’s campus,” Marcus said Friday.
Stating that students who support Zionism will be protected was important to plaintiffs, she said.
“It’s a new form of antisemitism, saying, ‘Oh, no, I don’t hate Jews, I just hate Zionists,’” she said. “For a Jew to hear that was incredibly painful and led to students really hiding their identities when no one should be forced in any way to hide their identity, including Jewish students who believe in the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state.”
When the complaint was initially filed in May 2024, one student, Ally Landau, a women’s basketball player who has since graduated, was named in addition to the group Jews at Haverford. Since then, two others were added with their initials.
In their complaint, plaintiffs said, the college failed to condemn Hamas’ attacks on Israel even though it had issued past statements in support of other minority groups, including Black people following the murder of George Floyd by police.
Among other allegations, the group said that a professor called students who supported Israel “racist genocidaires,” which the college did not challenge, and that the school allowed students to host an event where it was asserted that Israel had intentionally infected Palestinians with the coronavirus.
Haverford at the time declined to comment on the lawsuit.
A federal court in February 2025 dismissed the lawsuit, calling the complaint “sprawling and disorganized,” but the plaintiffs refiled.
In May 2025, Raymond was grilled by a congressional committee investigating colleges’ handling of campus antisemitism allegations. She drew fire for reluctance to answer questions about discipline in such incidents, especially in specific cases.
She also issued a statement at that time, saying that the college “came up short” in dealing with the conflict and said both she and Haverford can do better.
“To Jewish members of our community who felt as if the college was not there for you, I am sorry that my actions and my leadership let you down,” she wrote at the time.
The Haverford chapter of the American Association of University Professors, a group of nine Jewish faculty and staff, and more than 50 Jewish students at Haverford had written letters to the committee or issued statements in support of Haverford.
The faculty and staff group, noting they are diverse with some supporting Israel and others not, said at that time they “do not feel that our college is a hotbed of antisemitism.”
“We are all deeply concerned by how you are weaponizing our pain and anguish for your own purposes …,” the students wrote to the congressional committee. “It is a blatant assault on our Black, Brown, transgender, queer, noncitizen, and Palestinian peers.”
Since the congressional committee hearing, tensions have at times continued to flare. Earlier this year, Haverford vowed to make changes in its event policies after a talk by an Israeli journalist speaking on campus was disrupted, including by a protester who shouted through a bullhorn “Death to IOF,” or Israeli Occupying Forces, a name critics use to refer to Israel Defense Forces, and “Shame.”
In her statement to the campus community Friday, Raymond said it is never acceptable to let disagreements over the policies and actions of government “descend into the realm of discrimination, harassment, or bias.
“All members of the Haverford community who wish to express their considered perspectives must do so respectfully while allowing others to do the same.”
The two sides said in court documents they agreed to settle in order “to avoid the further expense, disruption, and uncertainty of litigation, all without admitting liability.”
Raymond, a molecular biologist who has led the college since July 2019, announced last November that she would step down in June 2027.
