Jewish Student Files Discrimination Lawsuit Against Rutgers

NEW BRUNSWICK – A Jewish freshman at Rutgers whose face was displayed on Pro-Palestinian fliers that were posted outside a dorm room and throughout Demarest Hall has filed a lawsuit against the university charging discrimination.

Cory Rothbort, the Essex County-based attorney representing Rivka Schafer, told TAPinto New Brunswick the suit seeking monetary damages was filed in Middlesex Superior Court today (Thursday, May 9).

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“The message is that Jewish students at Rutgers are not going to be Jews on trembling knees and that they’re not going to be bullied, intimidated or harassed into being quiet,” Rothbort said.

A Rutgers spokesperson, in response to TAPinto’s email seeking comment, said the school would not comment on pending litigation.

“At Rutgers we abhor antisemitism and all forms of intolerance based on religion, national origin, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, ability, or political views,” according to the comment. “The university takes seriously every claim of bias, intolerance, and hate. Rutgers has policies in place for reporting and investigating bias incidents. When bias incidents are reported, we investigate them fully and take appropriate action, including working with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies when situations warrant to pursue thorough investigations and ensure the safety of Rutgers community members.”

The 48-page suit, however, paints a toxic picture of campus life for the more than 6,000 Jewish students who are enrolled in the university.

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Schafer, who identifies as queer and therefore uses the pronouns they and them, awoke on March 28 to discover the fliers. The fliers contained a photo that was grabbed from a social media video from a Students Supporting Israel march along with the words “Free Palestine” and “Free Gaza.”

“It targeted me where I live,” they told the New York Post last month. “That’s not just terrifying, that’s outright harassment, that’s antisemitism.”

Two suspects have been charged in connection with the incident that allegedly targeted the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences student, Rothbort said.

Rothbort also pointed to the university this week prohibiting Jewish students from holding a barbecue on campus as another example of the university’s hostile treatment of Jewish students, especially following last week’s unauthorized four-day encampment on Voorhees Mall.

About 75 tents cropped up across the lawn as protesters organized by the Students for Justice in Palestine and the Endowment Justice Collective demanded the university cut financial ties with companies that have connections to Israel. They demanded Rutgers sever its educational partnership with Tel Aviv University.

“The Jewish students, when they were told they couldn’t do something, even though they disagreed with it, they followed it,” Rothbort said. “They followed what Rutgers told them because they were scared of consequences and because they had every reason to believe they would be held responsible.

“The other students, they have no concern whatsoever for consequences because there are none. And that’s how you get a discriminatory, hostile school environment where there are two sets of standards: one for Jewish students, one for this other group.”

Rutgers and campuses across the country have been emotional powder kegs in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and its seizing of more than 200 hostages (100 or so are still believed to be held captive), and Israel’s subsequent military response.

The fliers displaying Schafer’s smiling face were intended to persuade Rutgers students to vote in favor of referendums calling on the university to divest from Israel and break away from Tel Aviv University (about 80% of the 6,500 students who cast a vote were in favor of the former referendum, and about 71% voted in favor of the latter).

The lawsuit also references a town hall meeting attended by Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway that was disrupted “by students chanting for the genocide of Jews.” Last week, during the Voorhees Mall encampment, Shafer and other students were taunted by a student who yelled, “Hitler would have loved you.”

“I think it’s time to start taking the concerns of Jewish students seriously and stop placating and stop being scared of those who target Jews and violate laws and school policy,” Rothbort said.

Schafer is represented by David Mazie, David Estes and Rothbort of Mazie Slater Katz & Freeman in Roseland in Essex County.

The suit names Rutgers defendants as John and Jane Does 1 to 100, and ABC Corps. 1 to 100. Holloway, Chancellor Francine Conway, Dean Anne Newman and Associate Dean of Students Kerri Wilson are named in the suit.

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