Columbia University has fired three deans after it was discovered they sent text messages that touched on “anti-Semitic tropes” during a campus event about Jewish life.
The university placed three people on administrative leave in June — former associate dean and chief administrative officer Susan Chan Kim, former associate dean for student and family support Matthew Patashnick and former dean of undergraduate life Kristen Crome — after they exchanged negative text messages about the “Jewish Life on Campus: Past, Present and Future” panel. They are on indefinite administrative leave and will not return to their previous positions. According toMonday message to the campus community.
“This incident revealed disturbing behavior and sentiments that were not only unprofessional but also touched on long-standing anti-Semitic tropes. Whether intentional or not, these sentiments are unacceptable and deeply upsetting, demonstrate a lack of seriousness toward the concerns and experiences of members of the Jewish community, and are contrary to the university's values and the standards we must uphold in our community,” university president Minouche Shafik wrote.
Columbia University Dean Joseph Solett, who was also involved in the email exchange, said in the letter that he would continue in his position at the university. [took] He said: “I take full responsibility. [the campus’] We are grateful for the support of the Jewish community.” (Related article: Aiden Buzzetti: The root causes of extremism on college campuses go much deeper than teachers)
NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 29: Pro-Palestinian protesters set up a protest camp and continue to demonstrate on the Columbia University campus in New York City on April 29, 2024. Columbia University has issued a notice asking protesters to disperse the camp as negotiations have not led to a resolution. (Photo by Spencer Pratt/Getty Images)
“I deeply regret my role in these text exchanges,” Solett said in an email. according to In an email to The New York Times, he said the photo of the text was an “invasion of privacy.”
The university will launch a “robust anti-anti-Semitism and discrimination program” for faculty and staff in the fall, according to a community message.
According to The New York Times, the panel included Columbia/Bernard Hillel executive director Brian Cohen and David Scissor, a former law school dean and member of the university's Task Force on Anti-Semitism. Patashnick wrote that one of the panelists “is taking full advantage of this opportunity” and that it has “great fundraising potential,” while Crome used a vomit emoji in reference to Professor Yona Hayne's op-ed in the Washington Free Beacon. report.
Pro-Palestinian protesters set up an unauthorized encampment at the university for weeks near the end of the semester, calling on university officials to boycott, divest and sanction Israel for its response to the Hamas attack on Oct. 7. Dozens of people were arrested after they occupied Hamilton Hall in April, and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg dismissed nearly all of the charges in June.
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