Former Bright Lights Head Sues College on Free Speech

Emerson President Jay Bernhardt originally supported the screening of the film Israelism at the college’s Bright Lights program but changed his mind after the October 2023 Hamas attack, according to the lawsuit brought by Anna Feder, the former film series director. 

      The lawsuit, filed April 1, asserts that Feder’s political free speech rights were violated by Emerson when she was dismissed a few months after showing the film last year.

      The suit argues that even though Emerson is a private college, the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment and the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights protect free speech at the college. Its “interim” protest policy, handed down unilaterally last summer by the administration and the board of trustees, states, “It is important to note that Emerson College is a private institution, not a public forum, and is not subject to the First Amendment protections of the U.S. Constitution.”

    In challenging that claim, Feder’s lawsuit reveals behind-the-scenes details of the pressures brought against the film series director after she announced the planned November 2023 showing of Israelism, a film about the relationship of American Jews to Israel. The suit notes that Feder and the film directors are Jewish.

    Feder was contacted by a board member with “concerns” about the film, according to the suit, which does not name the individual. Shortly afterward, Feder met with Bernhardt, who had become president on June 1, 2023.

     Bernhardt told her that the board member’s attempt at interference was “not appropriate” and instructed her to go ahead with the screening. After the Hamas breakout from Gaza and attack on Israeli civilians on Oct. 7, Feder rescheduled the film screening to February 2024.

     Again she was contacted by a member of the board, she alleges, and this time Bernhardt switched his position. According to the suit, he warned Feder that if she persisted with the screening, he would “revisit” her program. 

  Israelism was shown without incident to an overflow audience on Feb. 1, 2024, and was followed by a discussion between the audience and the filmmakers. Feder also participated in the April 2024 demonstration in Boylston Place. On Aug. 13, 2024, the college announced the cancellation of the Bright Lights series, and Feder, who had worked for the college for 17 years, was dismissed, along with nine other employees.

      Feder’s suit alleges that she was “terminated by [Emerson College] for asserting her legally guaranteed right to freedom of speech and expression.”  The college portrayed the move as a budget cut. Neither Feder nor her attorney would discuss the legal implications of the lawsuit. The college had not filed a response in Suffolk Superior Court as of the end of last week.