is at Columbia University “Urgent need” for change to tackle anti-Semitism on campus That’s according to a detailed report released Friday — which found that some professors downplayed Jewish students’ concerns about rising hate.
Following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, the Ivy League did nothing to stop the boycotts, insults, and verbal abuse of Jewish and Israeli students. the organization’s anti-Semitism task force said in its lengthy report.
This 91 page document makes several recommendations to reduce the impact of terrorism. “Serious and widespread” problems This fact was highlighted by the faculty-led task force through testimonials of about 500 students.
Many students interviewed said the campus has lost the sense of safety and security it had before the anti-Israel protests. This has led to “anxiety” among students that they could be targeted at any time.
“I don't know how to move forward on this campus,” one anonymous student said in his testimony.
“They call for the Zionists to be expelled from our campus. Many teachers who are less aware only know that the police were on campus; they don't know what is going on. They should know what is going on, (but) they don't. Please clarify what is really going on.”
“None of us deserve to be unsafe on campus. We have different views, and that's OK.”
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The task force found that Columbia University faculty played a major role in this sense of threat.
According to the report, professors and other staff — including “high-level administrators” — were slow to report incidents of harassment on campus, or escalated the issue to other staff members. Faculty were also accused of publicly downplaying the situation while protests across the Ivy League dominated headlines across the country.
“The experiences of these students have demonstrated that there is an urgent need to reshape everyday social norms on Columbia University's campuses,” the task force wrote.
Later in the report, the panel added: “Although some faculty and staff responded with compassion and determination, others underestimated these students' concerns, reacting sluggishly and ineffectively to even the most blatant violations. Even students who successfully reported an incident described a repeated lack of enforcement of existing university rules and policies.”
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To tackle the issues outlined in the comprehensive report, the task force offered a number of recommendations, including improved anti-bias training for students and staff and a revised system for reporting anti-Semitism complaints.
It also said student groups should stop issuing political statements unrelated to their mission, as Jewish students feel excluded from many clubs and organizations.
The task force released its report just four days before Columbia’s fall semester classes began and less than three weeks after commencement. Minouche Shafiq, president of embattled Columbia University, abruptly resigned.
Shafiq stepped down after less than a year in office — a period marked by frequent and sometimes destructive anti-Israel protests. The former president blamed “that period of unrest” for his shocking departure.
Interim President Katrina Armstrong has already pledged to expand training and simplify the handling of harassment complaints during her tenure in line with the new report's recommendations.
“This is an opportunity to acknowledge that loss and pledge to make the changes necessary to do better, and to rededicate ourselves, as university leaders, as individuals and as a community, to our core mission of teaching and research,” Armstrong said in a statement.
