Columbia’s president has gone but antisemitism remains

Shafik never appeared to see or hear the campus antisemitism. And that took effort, considering how pervasive it was.

According to one Columbia student, there were anti-Israel events at least twice weekly during the autumn semester. When two anti-Israel student groups were suspended for violating university rules, they simply renamed themselves and administrators failed to act.

Protesters erected a massive anti-Israel encampment on campus. A Jewish student was assaulted by protesters. A mob stormed a campus building, trapping a custodian inside. And Columbia’s employees allegedly engaged in discrimination, which was recounted in lawsuits – plural – filed against the university last school year.

Shafik sounded detached from this reality in her resignation letter. She wrote: “It has also been a period of turmoil where it has been difficult to overcome divergent views across our community.”

There was indeed immense turmoil during Shafik’s 13-month tenure. But to sugarcoat Columbia’s seismic problems as an inability “to overcome divergent views” was ridiculous.

Thirtyfour of the 50-plus Jewish and Israeli students interviewed by Columbia’s undergraduate student newspaper last fall reported feeling unsafe on campus after October 7. Columbia also began investigating Davidai, who became vocal about Columbia’s antisemitism after October 7. Ninety-four student organisations hosted a spring semester event with Samidoun, an organisation banned in Germany and which Israel considers terrorist.

Over the summer, Columbia faced a new scandal as four administrators’ text discussion became public. Three deans who mocked a panel discussion about antisemitism at Columbia subsequently resigned but the fourth, the dean of Columbia’s undergraduate college, remains.

Students who align with the Palestinian cause don’t have a mere disagreement with their Jewish or Israeli classmates. Further, university employees are obligated to treat Jewish members of Columbia’s community equally, but some have failed.

These factors help explain why the US Department of Education has been investigating Columbia for civil rights violations, and why the Republican-led House of Representatives has continued overseeing the university.

Columbia simply doesn’t take antisemitism seriously. To wit, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce released information on Monday documenting just how cavalier the university is about punishing anti-Israel students who violate university rules or applicable laws.

For example, of the 35 students who refused to leave their encampment on April 29, 31 “are currently in good standing” and only one is suspended. Eighteen of the 22 students who were arrested for taking over a university building on April 30 remain “in good standing”.

None of those students were expelled, contrary to the university saying they would be. And according to New York Congressman Anthony D’Esposito, Columbia isn’t repaying “the $200,000 they cost the NYPD in overtime to clean up Shafik’s mess”.

The university’s refusal to set boundaries last year makes harassment, discrimination and violence only more likely this autumn. In fact, it has already begun. Masked protesters carried signs and chanted while “walking in circles, apparently trying to interfere with Barnard College move-in”, Columbia Engineering Professor Gil Zussman posted on social media.

Reflecting on what might improve the situation at Columbia, Davidai posted, “The solution is simple: 1. Permanently ban Students for ‘Justice’ in Palestine and fire its faculty adviser. 2. Expel the leaders of the pro-terror organisations. 3. Sanction or fire professors who engage in pro-terror and/or antisemitic activity on campus.”

The key is to have one set of rules for everybody and to enforce them. Columbia has already tried ignoring the problem. Now, it’s time to try tackling it.

​Melissa Langsam Braunstein (@slowhoneybee) is an independent writer in metro Washington