Ever since students at colleges across the United States have been protesting the war in Gaza, they have been the target of the ire of some of the most powerful figures in the financial world – investors, lawyers and bankers – who have exerted their financial power over universities, and ousted school leaders in the process.
That didn’t stop student protests. This year, the protests intensified until campuses vacated for the summer.
Now, a major Wall Street law firm is taking a more direct approach with protesters. Sullivan & Cromwell, a 145-year-old firm that has worked with Goldman Sachs and Amazon is among its customerssays that for job applicants, participating in an anti-Israel protest – whether on or off campus – could be a disqualifying factor.
The firm is investigating the students’ behavior with the help of a background check company, looking at their involvement with pro-Palestinian student groups, scouring social media and reviewing news reports and footage of the protests. It is also looking for clear examples of anti-Semitism as well as statements and slogans that “incite” Jews, said Joseph C. Shenker, a leader at Sullivan & Cromwell.
Candidates could face scrutiny even if they weren’t using problematic language but were involved in a protest that involved others. Protesters should be responsible for the behavior of those around them, Mr. Shenker said, otherwise they were adopting “mob mentality.” Sullivan & Cromwell did not say whether it has already removed candidates because of the policy.
“People are taking their outrage about what’s happening in Gaza and turning it into racist anti-Semitism,” Mr. Schenker said.
Private employers in the United States can hire whomever they want, with only a few restrictions to prevent discrimination. Some have fired workers because of their actions or statements since Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel.
Sullivan & Cromwell's policy is distinct because it makes applicants liable for the actions of others and considers commonly used protest slogans off-limits. No other law firm on Wall Street has publicly discussed a similar policy toward protesters, but the leaders of four law firms have One of Sullivan & Cromwell's top rivals said privately it was considering adopting similar rules.
According to critics of Sullivan and Cromwell, this policy is an attempt to suppress criticism of Israel on campus and equate all protesters with those responsible for attacks against Israel. Harassing and intimidating Jewish students.
“When we went out to recruit for major legal positions, we knew your social media had to be clean, there had to be nothing on there that you couldn't defend, you had to be a respectable person to get a job at any of these places,” said Rawda Fawaz, a lawyer at the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “This has always been the practice. Why do you have to have a specific policy on this?”
Ms. Fawaz, who worked as an associate at a large law firm after graduating from Columbia University Law School in 2022, said many Muslims and Arabs working for large firms already feel discouraged from discussing their views on Israel and its actions.
“Your political activism is part of your identity,” he said. “In a way, this is good because law students will know who they can work for and still maintain their identity.”
Mr. Shenker said Sullivan & Cromwell is not seeking privately expressed views from applicants, but rather trying to exclude anyone who has criticized Israel or condemned the general act of protesting. He and others who support this approach argue that it is an expansion of existing workplace restrictions on hate speech.
“What's happening here is really the implementation of basic workforce decency standards,” said Neil Barr, chairman of Davis Polk, a global firm with more than 1,000 lawyers. Job offers rescinded Regarding the students' involvement with groups that issued statements blaming Israel for the October 7 attack carried out by Hamas.
Sullivan & Cromwell's screening will occur when students apply for jobs or arrange interviews through top law schools, including Harvard, Yale, Columbia and New York University. The firm has hired a background check company, HireRight, to scour social media and recordings of public appearances for statements or actions about the conflict. Applicants will also be asked to list student groups they have joined.
Attending a protest or joining a group that Sullivan and Cromwell found offensive will be questioned. Applicants will have to explain their role, including what they did to prevent other protesters from making offensive or disturbing statements.
Roderick A. Ferguson, a professor of American studies at Yale, said the policy reflects how businesses have been trying to influence the behavior of people they can’t directly control for years. He said disqualifying people based on what someone else nearby might have done makes all protesters appear to have the same mindset.
“How can we assume that this is all about students?” Mr. Ferguson said, adding that such thinking could “replicate racist thinking, sexist thinking, homophobic thinking, so that one example becomes the character of all.”
Mr. Schenker said the list of unacceptable slogans and statements includes one that has been seen or heard at nearly all pro-Palestinian rallies: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
The purpose of this mantra is to fiercely controversialMany Palestinians see it as a call for an end to Israeli oppression in Gaza and the West Bank and for equal rights for Israel's Arab citizens. Many Israelis see it as a threat to wipe their country off the map.
Mr. Shenker is not Israeli, but he has strong ties to the country. His great-grandfather was an influential Orthodox Jewish community leader in Jerusalem a century ago and he is affiliated with a synagogue there. Mr. Shenker was in Israel during the October 7 attack.
He has used his professional position to play a leading role in addressing anti-Semitism and defining acceptable speech in law schools.
Mr. Shenker, 67, served as chairman of Sullivan & Cromwell from 2010 to 2022 — its most senior position — and is now one of two senior chairmen there. He has helped a range of clients, including Saudi investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, billionaire hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman and Frank McCourt, who has said he Interested in buying TikTokBuy and sell everything from buildings to sports teams.
He has also helped his clients recover from divorce and settle bitter inheritance disputes.
Soon after October 7, he wrote a letter signed by nearly 200 other firms, demanding Law School Dean Encouraging protesters on campus to act civilly and taking more steps to protect Jewish students. Mr. Shenker said that if schools had done that, his firm's new policy wouldn't have been needed.
But according to Kenneth S. Stern, director of the Bard Center for the Study of Hate, which studies anti-Semitism, the policy's failure is that it does not distinguish unpopular views from hate speech. Mr. Stern, who said he values Israel as the Jewish homeland, thinks such rules would exclude candidates who would be valuable to the law firm.
He said, “I'm offended by some of the slogans, but that's it — I'm offended.”