Four high-ranking Columbia University administrators were caught mocking a panel on campus antisemitism in a group text-message chat.
An audience member who sat behind one of the administrators took pictures of the texts and provided them to the Washington Free Beacon.
“As the panelists offered frank appraisals of the climate Jewish students have faced, Columbia’s top officials responded with mockery and vitriol, dismissing claims of anti-Semitism and suggesting … that Jewish figures on campus were exploiting the moment for ‘fundraising potential,'” the Beacon reported.
During one point in the exchange, one of the administrators used vomit emojis in reference to a newspaper op-ed by Columbia’s campus rabbi.
“…The text messages betray an attitude of ignorance and indifference toward the concerns of Jewish students on a campus where protesters have called to ‘burn Tel Aviv to the ground’ and said that ‘Zionists don’t deserve to live.’ The exchanges also raise questions about Columbia’s ability to combat anti-Semitism if its top administrators not only dismiss the problem but also sneer at those who speak out about it,” the Beacon added.
The report, published June 12, was read into the record during a House of Representatives Ways and Means committee hearing on the antisemitism crisis on college campuses on June 13.
The article also comes in the wake of massive controversy at the Manhattan-based campus, which became ground zero for aggressive pro-Palestinian protests in recent months.
Columbia canceled its university-wide commencement ceremony in early May a few days after more than 200 anti-Israel protesters were arrested for refusing to break up their encampment as well as taking over Hamilton Hall, smashing windows and barricading themselves inside — trapping custodians. Several students also reported being assaulted by protesters trying to enter the building.
Earlier in April, another violent melee unfolded on campus, during which Columbia’s Jewish students were advised to flee the campus for their own safety. That advice came after about 100 protesters taking part in a pro-Palestinian occupation camp on a Columbia lawn were arrested by police in riot gear.
The Ivy League university ended up going remote for the last three weeks of the semester to protect students’ safety.
Earlier this month, approximately 25 anti-Israel activists crashed Columbia’s alumni reunion event on the South Lawn, putting up tents and hanging banners, one of which read “We’re Back Bitches.”
Columbia this month also settled with a Jewish student who had filed a lawsuit alleging antisemitism, agreeing to create a “Safe Passage Liaison” for Jewish students.
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