Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) is facing a lawsuit alleging it retaliated against a Jewish professor and chaplain after he spoke out against antisemitic harassment on campus, thrusting the northern New Jersey institution into the national spotlight as higher education grapples with a surge of antisemitism since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
The suit, filed in Bergen County Superior Court, charges that FDU suspended and “effectively terminated” Professor Ira Jaskoll after he complained about antisemitic speech at a university-sponsored event. According to the complaint, administrators declined to discipline organizers of the event — where a guest speaker accused Israel of “genocide” and “apartheid” — and instead targeted Jaskoll for removal when he voiced his objections.
“This was retaliatory, discriminatory, and a violation of state law,” the filing states, arguing that FDU’s actions denied him civil rights protections and forced him out of his chaplaincy role unless he issued an apology he refused to give.
Jaskoll traces his treatment to the wave of anti-Israel activism that engulfed campuses nationwide after the Hamas assault in Israel nearly two years ago. He alleges FDU provided a platform for hate speech by sanctioning events calling for Israel’s destruction. When he objected, he says, administrators stripped him of his chaplain duties, later offering to reinstate him only if he apologized.
The complaint describes this as a coercive attempt to silence dissent and shield anti-Israel activism from accountability. To date, Jaskoll has not been restored to his position.
The FDU case echoes a cascade of similar claims across academia. A joint report released this month by the Anti-Defamation League and the Academic Engagement Network found nearly three-quarters of Jewish faculty nationwide had witnessed antisemitic activity from colleagues. Many pointed to the Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine network as the driving force behind anti-Israel programming and what some describe as “shadow boycotts” of Israel — policies that effectively isolate Jewish faculty and students.