House Panel Calls Out Columbia for On-Campus Antisemitism

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce is investigating Columbia University over "grave concerns regarding the inadequacy" of the school's response to on-campus antisemitism.

The committee, chaired by Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., has been laser-focused on oversight into how U.S. colleges and universities are dealing with on-campus antisemitism in the wake of Iranian-backed Hamas' Oct. 7 terrorist attack in Israel.

Foxx on Monday wrote a letter, obtained by Newsmax, to Columbia President Nemet "Minouche" Shafik and Board of Trustees co-Chairs Claire Shipman and David Greenwald that states "an environment of pervasive antisemitism has been documented at Columbia for more than two decades" before Hamas' terrorist attack.

The letter also was addressed to Dr. Laura Rosenbury and Cheryl Glicker Milstein, the president and chair, respectively, of Barnard College and its board of trustees. Barnard is an all-women's college that is formally part of Columbia University.

Following Hamas' terrorist attack, Columbia suspended its campus chapters of anti-Israel groups Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace in November, but the letter stated, "the groups have continued to hold anti-Israel events on campus with apparent impunity."

Foxx wrote that stands at odds with Shafik's commitment on Oct. 9 that "our first priority has been to make sure everyone connected to Columbia is safe" and a school statement that "President Shafik has repeatedly said that we will not tolerate antisemitic actions and are moving forcefully against antisemitic threats, images, and other violations as they are reported."

"Columbia has consistently allowed anti-Israel groups to violate university policies and shown its commitments on antisemitism to be hollow," Foxx wrote.

It was a hearing by Foxx's committee in December that caused a firestorm when the presidents of Harvard (Claudine Gay), the University of Pennsylvania (Liz Magill) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sally Kornbluth) each replied "it depends on the context" when asked if calling for the genocide of Jews violated their schools' codes of conduct. Magill resigned shortly after testifying and Gay resigned last month following allegations of plagiarism.

Foxx's letter documents 12 incidents of antisemitic assaults, harassment, and vandalism at Columbia since Oct. 7, including one on Jan. 31, when posters appeared across campus with an image of a blue-and-white skunk with a Star of David on its back and the captions: "Beware! Skunk on Campus" and "brought to you in collaboration by Columbia University and the IOF [Israeli Occupation Forces]."

It also documents instances where social media platforms were flooded with antisemitic messages by Columbia students and when Columbia faculty made antisemitic remarks and statements in support of Palestinian terrorism.

Foxx called out Barnard for a Jan. 19 event titled "Toward a Beloved Community: A Day of Dialogue and Reflection" where a speaker, invited by Barnard administrators, Dr. Hatem Bazian, and a co-founder of Students for Justice in Palestine, had a long history of antisemitic, anti-Israel, and pro-terrorism statements, Foxx wrote.

Foxx wrote to assist the committee's investigation into "understanding antisemitism at Columbia and the university's response to it." She requested several documents, including all reports of antisemitic acts, incidents and discrimination, and related documents and communications since Jan. 1, 2021, to be delivered to her committee by Feb. 26.

A Columbia spokesperson said in an email to Newsmax the university is committed to combating antisemitism and all forms of hatred, and that it received the letter from Foxx and will cooperate fully with any investigation.