Table Of Content
During these sessions, Task Force members heard from our community about the impact of antisemitism at Columbia to inform their later actions. Our hope is that these changes will make it so that our Jewish community members feel safe, secure, and welcome at Columbia, while also permitting other students the ability to make their voices heard. We are optimistic about the power of this policy, which was endorsed by the Task Force on Antisemitism. We will continue evaluating these policies over the coming months, and as necessary, we will amend the policies to ensure the safety of the Columbia community.
Rare visit by House speaker to campus escalates tension at Columbia
Opinion Columbia University's president is commtted to keeping her job - The Washington Post - The Washington Post
Opinion Columbia University's president is commtted to keeping her job - The Washington Post.
Posted: Wed, 24 Apr 2024 00:43:00 GMT [source]
Years ago, the University launched a major initiative to combat gender-based misconduct. We recommend a comparable effort to combat antisemitism–and, indeed, other forms of hate and discrimination. We know that President Shafik and her leadership team are committed to this goal. Our report’s second main recommendation is that the university needs to be more effective in enforcing its rules. Our report identified a number of reasons why enforcement has fallen short, and we suggested ways to deal with them. For example, we have called for more proactive responses when violations are taking place, a more streamlined process for filing complaints, more time to investigate them, and the release of aggregate data about our disciplinary processes.
Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions
So although there are problems at Columbia, many capable and dedicated people are working hard to address them. Our task force has been in close touch with President Shafik, her leadership team, an impressive group of faculty and staff from across the university, as well as students, graduates, and parents. We have strong support from David Greenwald, Claire Shipman, and their colleagues on Columbia’s Board of Trustees. We also regularly seek advice and share ideas with the leadership of Hillel, Chabad, antisemitism task forces at other universities, leaders of the Jewish community, and experts from a range of other institutions.
Hearing Recap: Columbia University Edition
For example, the use of antisemitic stereotypes and tropes in these critiques is antisemitic, as are efforts to rationalize or endorse the murder of Jews or the destruction of the state of Israel. But we can and should debate the policies of Israel as a nation-state, just as we do for other nation-states across the globe. Lays the groundwork necessary to provide uniform data on school shootings to policymakers and the public, allowing them to better measure the impact of policy solutions on the state and federal level.
Education and Human Services Policy
Traditionally, our campus has been open for public debate, including between students, faculty, and those not affiliated with Columbia. But the demonstrations and confrontations between student groups were unprecedented, and immediate action was needed to ensure the physical safety of our students. As protests grew, we worked to secure the campus and ensure the safety of our students. We restricted access to our campus to those with valid Columbia identification, increased the public safety presence across all of our campuses, brought in external security firms, and added resources to our existing safety escort programs. In recent years, antisemitism has been on the rise across the world, throughout the United States, and on university campuses.
Role of the Board of Trustees of Columbia University
The University has also taken extensive actions to confront antisemitism by improving reporting and training processes. We have enhanced the process by which members of our community can institute complaints regarding discrimination and harassment, making reporting easier. We have added additional resources—through both internal staff and hiring external support—to address these complaints. We have enhanced our training process for everyone working with students and student groups and brought in outside training on Title VI and reporting obligations.
Morningside Campus Update
Their Zionism and belief in a Jewish homeland should not disqualify them from joining a dance group or volunteering to work with NY City public school students. This sort of pressure–signaling that Jews are accepted only if they reject a core part of their religion and identity–sounds like old-fashioned bigotry from long ago. Indeed, it would be wrong to exclude or harass anyone based on their religion or identity, whether they are Palestinian, Black, Asian, Latino, LGBTQ+, female, or members of any other group. He taught himself English in the public library and took whatever work he could find. It offered him a fulfilling career as a Judaic studies teacher in a Hebrew school.
The remainder of my testimony has additional details on the University’s efforts to confront and combat antisemitism. I am grateful, as a citizen and a co-chair of our Board, for the spotlight that you are putting on this ancient hatred, and the critical role you play holding our most important institutions to account. As a reporter, I always have a bias toward transparency and accountability. Our University must always strive to shed the light of reason on the defining challenges of our time.
Statement From David Greenwald, Claire Shipman, Minouche Shafik, and Angela Olinto
Our ongoing rules review will provide comprehensive guidelines for demonstrations and protests that will lead to even greater accountability and a safer campus. To that end, we have invested extensively in antisemitism training for faculty and staff, which is already underway. We are also adding antisemitism education to our student orientation programs.
This is the first time in 50 years that Columbia has had a police presence on campus during demonstrations. We suspended two student groups, Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, following a series of rules violations and group leaders’ non-responsiveness to our repeated entreaties to comply. Many of these decisions were not popular, and provoked strong reactions from students, faculty, and outside groups. But President Shafik, the Board, and other University leaders felt they were essential to ensure the safety of our students on campus. As we continue improving, we have a number of longer-term efforts underway.
We are optimistic about the power of the Interim Demonstration Policy and will continue evaluating this policy and other relevant policies over the coming months, and will amend them as necessary to help ensure the safety of the Columbia community. While much of our work is not public facing, we actively assist and advise on matters across the University. The response to antisemitism on campus has been the same, with the Board involved every step of the way. We have been in constant communication with the University’s leadership, including President Shafik, and have observed the University’s dedication to student safety and eradicating hate on our campuses firsthand. Columbia began restricting access to campus to only Columbia ID holders during major events. Additionally, we increased the presence of public safety personnel across all of our campuses, hired outside security firms for additional support, and ensured that the NYPD were present or on standby for all major events.
Antisemitism is antithetical to Columbia’s mission, goals, values, and teachings. It has no place on our campus, and I am committed to doing everything that I can to confront it directly. It is distressing that some in our community have acted in a manner that is inconsistent with our values. I am deeply pained by the reports of members of our community feeling harassed and targeted because of their identity or faith. We have significant and important work to do to address antisemitism on our campus and to make sure that Jewish members of our community feel safe and welcome.
I have worked in international organizations for more than 25 years, where people from various nationalities, religions, and backgrounds have worked side-by-side to solve critical issues for the world. I am proud to have been part of the leadership teams of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the Bank of England; and proud to have led the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development and the London School of Economics. These experiences have shown me that education is the single most powerful tool to make our communities and our world better.
At our January videoconference Board meeting, President Shafik and other senior leaders reported, and the Trustees discussed, what was happening on campus and the steps being taken to address those developments. Antisemitism was also a topic at our Board meeting in March, and it will continue to be an important topic going forward. The Board is committed to building a University with an active discourse where all students, faculty, and staff can share their views on the issues important to them, but we refuse to tolerate threats, violence, or hatred. Tragically, since October 7, we have seen an increase in complaints of antisemitic behaviors, threats, and occasionally violence.
House has visited a college campus amid ongoing protests that have led to tense exchanges between pro-Palestinian and Jewish students. More than 100 people on Columbia’s campus were recently arrested and charged with trespassing, with several students who took part in the protest facing suspension just weeks before year’s end. Shafik called on the New York Police Department, whose officers arrived in riot gear, to arrest protesters just one day after she and other Columbia leaders told Congress she would make changes aimed at ending the harassment of Jewish students. The school also announced it would start a hybrid learning model for the rest of the year. The Task Force has been at the core of the University’s response to antisemitism. During this crisis we have been in constant communication with President Shafik about strong, consistent, and meaningful responses to antisemitism on campus.
Chairwoman Foxx, Ranking Member Scott, and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to be here today and discuss Columbia University’s efforts to combat antisemitism. A group of antisemitic thugs put my grandfather up against a wall and were about to shoot him, but he managed to get away. This near-death experience persuaded him to leave Ukraine, and he arrived in New York harbor a few months later. The publications on this page are available at the committee's discretion.
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