Jewish alumni group pushing Columbia to step up efforts to combat antisemitism on campus

A pro-Jewish alumni group is launching a social media ad campaign to pressure Columbia University to aggressively combat antisemitism at its uptown Manhattan campus.

Alums for Campus Fairness said the six-figure advocacy and awareness campaign also targets Columbia-affiliated Barnard College to do more to curb Jewish hatred.

“Columbia and Barnard leaders have consistently failed to protect Jewish students from antisemitic discrimination and harassment,” said Avi Gordon, executive director of the group.

“By refusing to take meaningful action against antisemitism and, in some cases, enabling it themselves, Columbia and Barnard leadership is complicit in creating a culture of hatred on campus,” Gordon said.

The push comes on the heels of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Education and the Workforce expanding its investigation of antisemitism in higher education to include Columbia and Barnard, along with Harvard, University of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

An antisemitic flier depicting a skunk in the white and blue of the Israeli flag and a Star of David recently surfaced on Columbia’s Morningside Heights campus, sparking outrage in the Jewish community. 

ACF noted that more than 100 faculty members at Columbia — including 33 at Barnard — signed a letter defending Hamas’ October 7 massacre as a “military action.”

More than 10% of faculty at Barnard College – a women’s college – justified atrocities, including sexual violence against women and girls, by seeking to place them “within the larger context of the occupation of Palestine by Israel,” ACF said.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights last November opened an investigation into antisemitism or Islamophobia at three New York Schools — Columbia, Cornell and Cooper Union.

ACF also complained that Barnard opened the spring term by canceling classes for a “Day of Dialogue and Reflection” with one of the country’s “leading antisemites” serving as the headline speaker, referring to University of California-Berkley lecturer Hatem Bazian.

Bazian is chairman of American Muslims for Palestine and a founder of Students for Justice in Palestine, which was suspended from Columbia for holding unauthorized Israel-bashing events on campus. He supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against the Jewish State for mistreating Palestinians. 

ACF also urged Columbia and Barnard to adopt International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, enforce the student code of conduct, and make clear that it is not acceptable for students and faculty at Barnard or any Columbia institution to defend Hamas’ atrocities on October 7.

A Columbia spokesperson said, “President [Minouche] Shafik has repeatedly emphasized that we will not tolerate antisemitic actions and are moving forcefully against antisemitic threats, images, and other violations as they are reported, and we will continue to provide additional resources to protect our campuses.”

The statement also said the university needs to address the “root causes,” of antisemitism, and that Shafik established a task force to enable Columbia to tackle “this ancient, but terribly resilient, form of hatred.”

“In the coming months, the task force will identify practical ways to enhance support for all members of the Columbia, Barnard, and Teachers College communities, particularly our Jewish students. Longer term, it will recommend changes related to academic and extracurricular offerings and administrative policies,” the university said.

A spokesperson for Barnard College said the institution is “firmly committed to fostering an environment where ideas are freely exchanged in a respectful and inclusive atmosphere.”

“We unequivocally condemn antisemitism and all forms of hatred. Our most important responsibility is to ensure Barnard is a peaceful, welcoming space where every student can thrive without fear for their own safety or security.”

Barnard noted it is part of the task force on antisemitism with Columbia and Columbia Teachers College.