At the esteemed Nysmith School in northern Virginia, administrators shocked families by telling Jewish students to “toughen up” amid anti-Semitic harassment—and then removing them. This incident sparked a civil rights complaint accusing the school of fostering an environment “that is hostile to Jews.”
At the prestigious school, three Jewish children faced vile anti-Semitic bullying linked to a class project praising Hitler. Parents say the headmaster told them their daughter needed to toughen up after reporting the harassment. Soon after, the school expelled all three, prompting a civil rights complaint under Virginia law.
The Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law alleges the school “allowed anti-Semitism to take root in her class” and wrongly flipped the blame onto the victims. The complaint recounts nasty name-calling, pro-Palestine stickers, and classmates taunting one child, “we won,” in reference to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks. Students told the Jewish girl, “they deserve to die,” mocking her uncle’s death tiptoed into school discourse, illustrating the toxicity.
Headmaster Kenneth R. Nysmith reportedly defended his decision by writing, “you have a profound lack of trust in both me and the school,” though parents insist the expulsions punished the victims, not the perpetrators.
Brandeis Center chairman Kenneth Marcus sharply condemned the actions: “The actions of Nysmith School against these three young children are disgraceful.”
Marcus warned: “Through its actions, the administration sent a clear message: bullying is acceptable, as long as it’s against Jewish families.”
