An elite Jewish high school in New York City will no longer send students to Columbia University for the first time in more than two decades because of the university's response to anti-Israel protests.
Ramaz School said it strives to inform students of relevant events occurring at their prospective schools, especially those that impact their Jewish faith. According to With anti-Semitic protests and incidents on college campuses on the rise following the deadly Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, according to the New York Post, Lamas has been particularly careful to identify danger zones where Jewish students do not feel safe.
“For the first time in more than 20 years, no Lamas alumni will be attending Columbia University,” Lamas said in a statement to The Washington Post.
Columbia University was one of the first in the nation to see anti-Israel protests, which led to riots, hundreds of arrests, and threats of expulsion, leading the university's president, Minouche Shafik, to resign in August following the controversial incident. (University police say NYC schools unprepared for anti-Israel protests)
“Lamas is providing as much information as possible about the status of various colleges of interest and is prioritizing issues surrounding the horrific increase in anti-Semitic incidents at some schools so our students and their families can make informed decisions about which college is right for them,” a Ramaz representative told The Post.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators rally to mark the Nakba anniversary in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on May 18, 2024. (Photo by John Lamparsky/AFP via Getty Images)
“Jewish families are voting with their feet and choosing a university that takes anti-Semitism seriously,” Rory Lancman, a Columbia Law School graduate whose two daughters graduated from Lamas, told the New York Post. “I would not encourage my daughters to attend Columbia or any other university that is not committed to protecting them as Jews.”
Yeshiva University, New York's top Orthodox Jewish university, reported a 75% increase in students transferring to the university for the spring 2024 semester compared to 2023, the same time the campus protests were at their height. According to According to Inside Higher Ed, the school received the most applications in the school's history last academic year and will welcome its largest student body in the past 15 years.
Columbia University and Yeshiva University did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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