University should have fired all four deans months ago, congresswoman says
Three of the four Columbia University administrators caught mocking Jewish leaders and students in a series of texts have resigned, the institution confirmed this week.
University spokesperson Samantha Slater told the Columbia Spectator in a statement Thursday former deans Susan Chang-Kim, Matthew Patashnick, and Cristen Kromm recently left their jobs.
Their resignations come after the university put them on leave and then “permanently removed” them from their leadership positions in July as a result of the uncovered text exchange.
A petition signed by more than 2,000 alumni and students also called for their terminations.
However, Columbia College Dean Josef Sorett, who also was involved in the text message conversations, remains employed.
Responding to the news Thursday, U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx said Columbia should have fired all four deans months ago. Foxx chairs the House Education Committee.
“These administrators had a responsibility to ensure Jewish students are able to thrive safely on Columbia’s campus, and they failed miserably, showing contempt for the Jewish community and engaging in antisemitic tropes,” the North Carolina Republican said in a news release.
By allowing Sorett to keep his position, Foxx said the university is sending “mixed signals.”
Foxx’s committee also has requested more information from Columbia as part of an on-going investigation into campus antisemitism, the Columbia Spectator reports:
The three resignations came on the same day as a deadline that the committee set on Aug. 1 for the University to submit priority documents for its investigation into on-campus antisemitism. Citing a repeated failure to produce documents in a timely manner, Foxx threatened to subpoena Columbia for the material if the University did not meet the deadline, an escalation in the monthslong congressional probe.
The requested material referenced in Foxx’s Aug. 1 letter includes communications by “priority custodians of documents,” like Shafik, members of the board of trustees, and other senior leadership; records of trustee meetings; and information on student and faculty disciplinary proceedings.
In a July email to the campus, university President Minouche Shafik described the administrators’ texts as “antithetical” to Columbia’s values.
“This incident revealed behavior and sentiments that were not only unprofessional but also disturbingly touched on ancient antisemitic tropes,” Shafik wrote. “Whether intended as such or not, these sentiments are unacceptable and deeply upsetting, conveying a lack of seriousness about the concerns and the experiences of members of our Jewish community.”
Shafik also said university leaders are working on a “vigorous” antisemitism training program for faculty and staff in the fall.
The group texts, revealed by the House committee and Washington Free Beacon reports, showed the four deans making critical and mocking comments about an antisemitism panel during a Reunion Weekend event titled “Jewish Life on Campus.”
In one of the text exchanges, the deans accused Jewish leaders of being “privilege[d].”
In another, Chang-Kim referred mockingly to a male speaker, presumably campus Hillel Director Brian Cohen, as “our hero,” and Sorett responded, “Lmao.”
Sorett apologized in a letter to the campus July 8, saying the text exchange “was contrary to the values of the University.”
MORE: Top Columbia administrators caught secretly mocking panel on antisemitism
IMAGE: Columbia Jewish Alumni Association
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