‘I would not recommend my daughters to apply to Columbia or other colleges that aren’t committed to protect them as Jews,’ parent and alumnus says
Graduates from a Jewish high school in New York City are avoiding Columbia College reportedly due to concerns over anti-Israel demonstrations.
“For the first time in over 20 years, we will not have a Ramaz graduate enrolling in Columbia College,” the Ramaz School told the New York Post Sunday. While one Ramaz student will attend the School of General Studies, a separate entity within Columbia University, no students are enrolling in Columbia College itself.
The shift in enrollment appears to be linked to rising concerns about antisemitism on college campuses.
“Ramaz provides as much information as possible about the situation at various colleges of interest, and we have given priority to issues surrounding the horrific rise in antisemitic instances at some schools, so that our students and their families are able to make informed decisions about which colleges are right for them,” the school stated.
Rory Lancman, a Columbia Law School alumnus and parent of two Ramaz graduates, shared his views on recent events at the Ivy League school with the New York Post. “Jewish families are voting with their feet and choosing colleges and universities that take antisemitism seriously,” Lancman said. “I would not recommend my daughters to apply to Columbia or other colleges that aren’t committed to protect them as Jews.”
He is also “the current director of corporate initiatives and senior counsel at the Louis Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law,” according to the New York Post.
Meanwhile, in the wake of anti-Israel protests across the country last spring, Yeshiva University, an Orthodox Jewish school in New York City, saw a 75 percent increase in transfer students.
School officials say the surge in enrollment is “at least partially related to the pro-Palestinian protests,” according to Inside Higher Ed.
Columbia University has faced some of the most disruptive anti-Israel demonstrations over the past year.
In one incident, students barricaded themselves in a campus building and hundreds of students were arrested. Most recently, anti-Israel activists vandalized the apartment building of Columbia University’s chief operating officer.
Further, three of the four Columbia University administrators involved in a series of texts mocking Jewish leaders and students stepped down this month.
Following these events, the university’s president, Minouche Shafik, resigned from her position last week, as previously reported by The College Fix.
MORE: Columbia cancels graduation, cites safety issues after hundreds arrested in anti-Israel protest
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