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Updated May 15, 2025, at 8:16 p.m.
Harvard and lawyers representing Alexander “Shabbos” Kestenbaum in his Title VI lawsuit against the University reached a settlement on Thursday, ending Kestenbaum’s 16-month legal fight against Harvard.
The case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning Kestenbaum cannot reopen his claims. A person familiar with the case confirmed the dismissal was a settlement and said the terms of the agreement will be kept confidential.
Harvard spokesperson Jason A. Newton wrote in a statement that “Harvard University and Shabbos Kestenbaum have reached an agreement to resolve their ongoing litigation.”
“Harvard and Mr. Kestenbaum acknowledge each other’s steadfast and important efforts to combat antisemitism at Harvard and elsewhere,” Newton added.
Attorneys for Kestenbaum did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kestenbaum first sued Harvard in January 2024 with a group calling itself Students Against Antisemitism, alleging the University had failed to protect students from antisemitism. Harvard settled in January 2025 with Students Against Antisemitism and a separate group suing the University over similar claims, agreeing to adopt new nondiscrimination policies to protect Jewish and Israeli students.
The settlement included Harvard’s adoption of the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, which deems some criticisms of Israel antisemitic.
But Kestenbaum was unsatisfied with the terms and opted to continue pursuing the case under new counsel. A judge ruled in April that two students seeking to join Kestenbaum in his amended complaint could not be added to the case.
The settlement agreement comes just a week before the deadline for discovery was set to pass in the case — a deadline Kestenbaum sought to evade as he pushed back against the University’s motion to compel the production of documents ranging from communications with President Trump’s 2024 campaign to the contents of a private WhatsApp group.
But a judge ruled in April that Kestenbaum would have to produce documents. Kestenbaum and his lawyers did not respond to the ruling before an April 7 deadline.
The settlement agreement brings Harvard’s monthslong legal battle to a close at a time when the University is grappling with the effect of a series of federal funding cuts relating to allegations that it has failed to properly address antisemitism on campus.
The federal government has cut almost $3 billion in federal funding to the University over the past month.
Though University President Alan M. Garber ’76 has announced Harvard’s commitment to resisting Trump’s demands, the University has also put programs engaging in scholarship around Israel and Palestine on pause and renamed its Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging.
Pressure on the University only increased following the publication in April of an internal Harvard task force report on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias. The report, along with a report from a parallel task force on anti-Arab, anti-Muslim, and anti-Palestinian bias, found that students had experienced widespread hostility and isolation on campus.
Two weeks following the report, the Trump administration announced the cut of an additional $450 million in federal funding to Harvard, accusing the University of inaction regarding antisemitism and discriminating against white people.
—Staff writer Dhruv T. Patel contributed reporting.
—Staff writer Sebastian B. Connolly can be reached at sebastian.connolly@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @SebastianC4784.
—Staff writer Julia A. Karabolli can be reached at julia.karabolli@thecrimson.com.
