Harvard University will provide additional protections for Jewish students under a settlement announced on Tuesday that resolves two lawsuits accusing the Ivy League school of becoming a hotbed of rampant antisemitism.

Many universities have been reluctant to embrace a definition that, among other things, considers some criticisms of Israel as antisemitic. The university’s decision was part of a lawsuit settlement.

Harvard University has settled two lawsuits accusing the Ivy League school of failing to protect Jewish students from antisemitic bullying and harassment on campus.

The lawsuits came after Harvard faced fierce criticism over its handling of anti-Israel protests that erupted on campus amid the Israel-Hamas war. Jewish students alleged they were bullied, spat on, intimidated, threatened and subjected to verbal and physical harassment.

Several other schools have recently settled similar lawsuits, and suits are pending against others, including the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University.

The definition, adopted by the the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance as well as more than 40 nations, says that certain kinds of criticism of Israel and Zionism can be antisemitic.

The nation’s richest Ivy League university lost millions in fundraising dollars after drawing donor ire over antisemitism on campus. These settlements could be the first step to assuaging those concerns.

Harvard’s settlement of two antisemitism lawsuits Tuesday sparked pointed reactions from student groups on campus, ranging from reserved hope to fury and fears of censorship.

The Ivy League school agreed to boost protections for Jewish students.

Harvard University has settled in two lawsuits that accused the school of antisemitism on campus.   The first, brought by Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and Jewish Americans

We now have a Harvard standard that other colleges will strive to meet,’ a leading authority on antisemitism and civil rights in higher education