Over 4,360 Jewish faculty, staff, students, alumni, parents and community members signed a letter this week to Columbia University President Minouche Shafik, the Board of Trustees and deans of all Columbia schools calling for adherence to university and federal education civil rights policies.
As the Gaza solidarity encampment remains on campus and hundreds of protestors both affiliated and non-affiliated with the university have descended upon the school for almost its second week, Jews associated with the university are asking for enhanced security measures, protection of academic activities and for increased community relations with the surrounding neighborhood.
The undersigned said they wrote to offer their support and partnership to “secure safety, speech and civility” on campus.
“We imagine that the decision to request help from the NYPD to address the unauthorized student encampment on our campus must have been difficult, especially in light of Columbia’s campus history,” the letter said.
The undersigned added they are highlighting the administration’s duties to enforce the rules of the university such as the “Charters and Statues of Columbia University” which outlines the president’s responsibility to end demonstrations that pose a “clear and present danger” to persons, property of the substantial functioning of any division of the University.
The undersigned said the faculty and student campus groups supporting the encampment do not represent the majority of students who they said presumably want to peacefully student, teach, research, live and work on campus.
“These activities are impeded given the repeated and flagrant violations of University rules,” the letter said. “This is especially concerning as students enter the final exam period and upcoming commencements. We also explicitly recognize the rights of our neighbors and the surrounding community.”
The letter further outlined examples concerning antisemitic and anti-Israel language used by protestors.
Also in the letter is a reminder of the US Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights “Dear Colleague” letter on “Shared Ancestry” which reminded “colleges, universities and schools that receive federal financial assistance of their legal responsibility title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its implementing regulations (Title VI) to provide all students a school environment free from discrimination based on race, color, or national origin, including shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics.”
Professors involved in the encampment as well
The letter also criticized professors who held classes, office hours and meetings from inside the encampment where student protestors denied entrance to anyone who is identified as a Zionist.
Pictures shared by at least two different social media accounts associated with groups involved in the encampment showed professors holding class within the encampment.
An Instagram account called the Teachers College Abolition Coalition shared multiple photos of Dr. Sandra Schmidt, the Program Director for social studies education, holding class on Wednesday within the encampment.
Schmidt has not responded to The Post’s request for comment about her decision to hold class in the encampment.
The Post has also reached out to the university for comment on this and has yet to receive a response.
“The situation on campus continues to escalate. There are reports of death threats, calls for violence, physical assault of students and stealing of their property, explicit support of terrorist organizations, and calls for ethnic cleansing,” the letter said. “These invocations have occurred with frequency both within and beyond the campus walls.”
“All we want to do is educate ourselves”
On Wednesday, the Post spoke with two Israeli students on campus who signed the letter.
Third year financial economics and neuroscience student Itay and and third year economics and political science student Noy were sitting on a bench in front of a wall covered in posters of the hostages that overlooks the Gaza encampment.
Itay said the Jewish community had to come together, like how on Hanukkah the individual lights together make a big fire.
It doesn’t matter if one person sends her an email, Itay said, we have to come together as one.
“And at the end of the day, all we want to do is educate ourselves. We came here to receive a proper education, which we cannot receive right now,” Noy said. “We’re limited in our ability to even navigate on campus. So being able to show our appreciation for even a little bit of support is something that was very important to us.”
Wednesday was the first time Noy came back to campus since the protests escalated last week. She said she felt too unsafe and scared to come on campus.
Dr. Gil Zussman, who is Israeli and received three degrees from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, is the Vice Chair in the Electrical Engineering department and also signed the letter.
In December, Zussman was appointed to the Antisemitism Task Force.
“We encourage the university to keep enforcing its own rules. We’re not calling for inventing new rules or anything else,” Zussman said. “Just keep enforcing your own rules in order to bring the place to order and not allow a very vocal, small minority of faculty and students to hijack the situation. So that’s the objective I would say of sending out this letter.”
The letter is not affiliated with the Antisemitism Task Force.
Zussman told the Post the letter is asking the administration to go back to focusing on what the university needs to do, which is teaching, research and patient care. The university needs to graduate the seniors and the encampment is intentionally blocking the location of commencement.
Zussman said there is a broad misunderstanding of Title VI and students and faculty don’t understand that certain speech permissible in protests off of school grounds is not permitted on campus. Zussman said there is also a double standard applied to Jews and Israelis that would not be tolerated against other protected groups.
“We know this has been an incredibly difficult time for so many in our community, especially Jewish/Israeli and Muslim/Palestinian students, faculty, and staff. There is much work that needs to be done to bring us together and to restore Columbia’s reputation as an exemplar of reason, inclusion, learning, and discovery,” the letter said.
The letter concluded, “we stand ready to work with you to help make Columbia the inclusive and safe campus it strives to be, and a place where all students, faculty and staff can flourish.”
