In recent months, a slew of colleges and universities have been in the news over incidents of antisemitism on campus. Some of the most high-profile cases included pro-Hamas encampments on school grounds. In some cases, some professors supported the students who were partaking in these “protests.”
At one school in particular, Columbia University, antisemitism skyrocketed. Townhall reported how the university’s president, Minouche Shafik, decided to testify before Congress about this.
In the hearing, Shafik could not answer clearly if a clearly antisemitic professor was still hired by the university, among other things.
Now, reports have indicated that a slew of deans at the university were removed. This came after a report from The Washington Free Beacon exposed antisemitic text messages from the deans.
According to The New York Times, the three administrators are still employed by the university but have been placed on indefinite leave and will not return to their previous positions.
In a statement, Shafik described the text messages as “unacceptable and deeply upsetting, conveying a lack of seriousness about the concerns and the experiences of members of our Jewish community.” She said the messages were “antithetical to our university’s values and the standards” (via NYT):
The three Columbia administrators involved in the text message exchanges are Cristen Kromm, formerly the dean of undergraduate student life; Matthew Patashnick, formerly the associate dean for student and family support; and Susan Chang-Kim, formerly the vice dean and chief administrative officer. They did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Josef Sorett, the dean of Columbia College, also engaged with the administrators in the text exchange.
Sorett will remain at his post. However, more than 1,000 alumni have signed a petition demanding he be removed from his job. The petition claims that Sorett, along with the other three deans, “are not fit to serve as deans of Columbia College and should be removed from their positions immediately.”
Reportedly, starting this fall, Columbia students, faculty and staff will undergo required anti-discrimination training that will include a focus on antisemitism.
The text messages were exchanged during an event focused on the school’s Jewish lift (via NYT):
On May 31, in the aftermath of student protests and congressional hearings called to address antisemitism on college campuses, Columbia hosted during its reunion weekend a panel discussion called “Jewish Life on Campus: Past, Present and Future.” The panel’s speakers included Brian Cohen, the executive director of Columbia/Barnard Hillel, the Jewish students organization; and David Schizer, the former dean of the law school and a chair of the university’s antisemitism task force.
The three administrators and Dr. Sorett were in the audience, and a person sitting behind Ms. Chang-Kim photographed the text messages she was exchanging with her colleagues. The images were shared with The Washington Free Beacon, a conservative website, which published an article.
[...]
Ms. Kromm texted her colleagues two vomit emojis.
During the panel, Ms. Chang-Kim also exchanged texts with Dr. Sorett.
“LMAO” — “laughing my ass off” — Dr. Sorett replied to Ms. Chang-Kim after she texted a snarky remark about Mr. Cohen.
Jonathan Sobel, who served as chairman of the Columbia College fund, said, “For months, many of us had suspected that antisemitism at Columbia was widespread, accepted and existed at or near the highest levels,” adding that he was “saddened by the texts but not surprised.”
“The jocular and casual nature of the texts made them particularly concerning,” he added. “It makes one think that they’ve had many similar conversations in the past.”