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As long as college students across the United States have been protesting the war in Gaza, they have drawn the ire of some of the biggest names in finance — investors, lawyers and bankers — who exert financial influence over universities and overthrow school leaders in the process.
That didn’t stop students from protesting, which intensified this year until the campus was empty by summer.
Now, a prominent Wall Street law firm is taking a more direct approach to the protesters. Sullivan & Cromwell is a 145-year-old law firm that has represented Goldman Sachs and Amazon is one of its customersFor job seekers, participating in protests, whether on or off campus, could be a disqualifying factor, the department said.
The firm is scrutinizing students’ behavior with the help of a background check firm, investigating their involvement in pro-Palestinian student groups, searching social media, and reviewing news reports and videos of protests. Joseph C. Schenkel, a principal at the Sullivan & Cromwell law firm, said it is looking for clear examples of anti-Semitism and speech and slogans that it believes would “arouse” Jewish sentiment.
Even if candidates don’t use problematic language, they could face scrutiny if they participate in protests that others are participating in. Schenkel said protesters should take responsibility for the actions of those around them or they are embracing a “mob mentality.” Sullivan & Cromwell would not say whether it had dropped a candidate because of the policy.
“People are angry about what’s happening in Gaza and are channeling it into racist anti-Semitism,” Mr. Schenkel said.
Private employers in the United States can hire as they please, with only a few restrictions aimed at preventing discrimination. Since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, some employers have fired employees for their actions or words.
Sullivan & Cromwell’s policy stands out because it holds applicants accountable for the actions of others and deems common protest chants unacceptable. No other Wall Street law firm has publicly discussed similar policies targeting protesters, but leaders of four firms have Elite rivals Sullivan and Cromwell privately said they were considering adopting similar rules.
To Sullivan and Cromwell’s critics, the policy is an effort to silence criticism of Israel on campus and paint all protesters as those Taunting and threatening Jewish students.
“When we do big legal recruiting, we know your social media better be clean, you better not post anything on there that you can’t defend, and you have to be a respectable person to get a job at these places,” said Rawda Fawaz, an attorney at the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “That’s always been the norm. Why do you have to have a special policy for this?”
Ms. Fawaz, who worked as a partner at a large law firm after graduating from Columbia Law School in 2022, said many Muslims and Arabs working at large companies have become reluctant to discuss their views on Israel and its actions.
“Your political activism is part of your identity,” she said. “In some ways, that’s a good thing because law students will know who they can work for and still maintain their own identity.”
Schenkel said Sullivan & Cromwell does not ask job applicants to express private opinions or try to exclude all those who criticize Israel or condemn the protests, an approach he and others who support it see as an extension of existing workplace bans on hate speech.
“What’s really happening here is just enforcing basic standards of workforce decency,” said Neil Barr, chairman of Davis Polk, a global law firm with more than 1,000 lawyers. Withdraw a job offer The students were part of groups that issued statements accusing Israel of being responsible for the October 7 attack by Hamas.
Sullivan & Cromwell’s screening will be conducted after students apply for jobs or arrange interviews through top law schools such as Harvard and Yale. Colombia and New York University. It has hired background check firm HireRight to search social media and recordings of public appearances for conflicting statements or actions. Applicants will also be asked to list the student groups they have joined.
Participating in protests or joining groups that Sullivan & Cromwell deems inappropriate will trigger an inquiry. Applicants must explain their role, including how they stopped other protesters from making offensive or harassing comments.
Roderick A. Ferguson, a professor of American studies at Yale University who has studied college responses to student movements, said the policy showed that corporations were trying to influence the behavior of people they could no longer directly control for years to come. Disqualifying someone based on the behavior of others in their neighborhood seemed to characterize all protesters as having a single mindset, he said.
“How can we conclude that all students share this belief?” Mr. Ferguson said. Such thinking, he said, “may be similar to racist, sexist, homophobic thinking, that one case becomes a common trait for all.”
Mr. Schenkel said that among the list of unacceptable slogans and statements was one that could be seen or heard at almost all pro-Palestinian rallies: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
The purpose of this slogan is Heated debateMany Palestinians saw it as a call for an end to Israeli oppression of Gaza and the West Bank, and for equal rights for Israel’s Arab citizens. Many Israelis saw it as a threat to wipe their country off the map.
Schenkel is not Israeli, but he has strong ties to Israel. A century ago, his great-grandfather was the leader of an influential Orthodox Jewish community in Jerusalem, and he was a member of the synagogue there. Schenkel was in Israel when the Oct. 7 attack occurred.
He used his professional position to play an important role in addressing the issue of anti-Semitism and defining acceptable speech in the law school.
Schenkel, 67, served as chairman of Sullivan & Cromwell from 2010 to 2022, the firm’s top job, and is currently one of the firm’s two senior chairmen. Clients he has helped include Saudi investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal; billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackmanand Frank McCourt, who said he Interested in acquiring TikTokbuying and selling everything from buildings to sports teams. He also helps clients navigate divorces and resolve bitter inheritance disputes.
Shortly after October 7, he wrote a letter, signed by about 200 companies, calling on Dean of the School of Law Mr. Schenk said that if the school had done so, his company wouldn’t have to create a new policy.
But Kenneth Stern, director of the Bard Center for the Study of Hate, who studies anti-Semitism, said the policy is flawed in that it does not distinguish between unpopular views and hate speech. Stern said he believes in the importance of Israel as a homeland for the Jewish people and believes such a rule would exclude candidates who would be valuable to law firms.
“I was offended by some of the chants, but that’s it — I was offended,” he said.
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