Columbia officials avoid traps that caught Harvard and Penn

A quartet of Columbia University officials largely avoided a viral breakthrough moment at a House hearing Wednesday on anti-Semitism, but still struggled in several areas as they were bombarded with questions from Republican lawmakers.

The viral question that last year perplexed the presidents of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was asked early to Columbia employees.

Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.) asked the four witnesses whether calls for the genocide of the Jewish people would violate the school’s Code of Conduct.

The school president, two members of the board of trustees and a teacher responded affirmatively.

“Yes, it’s true,” said David Greenwald, co-chair of the board.

His willingness to more directly condemn anti-Semitism and recognize its pervasiveness on campus was celebrated by several lawmakers.

“I think you are right that we have a moral crisis on our campus,” said Claire Shipman, the other co-chair of the board of trustees, adding “you are probably tired of hearing that I consider the behavior of some of our students, some of our teachers, unacceptable.

The hearing was not peaceful, however, as the President of Colombia, Nemat Shafik, struggled with some of her responses related to the definition of anti-Semitism and whether chants such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine would be free” are anti-Semites.

David Schizer, a law school professor and chairman of the anti-Semitism working group, said the chant was anti-Semitic.

Shafik initially said it depends, as some individuals, even Jews, are not offended by the chant, but later, when pressed by Rep. Elise Stefanik (RN.Y.), Shafik said the school was “considering” disciplinary action for students who use the phrase.

“When I hear these terms, I find them very disturbing,” Shafik said when first asked about the chant. When pressed again if he is anti-Semitic, the president continued, “I hear them as such, some people don’t.”

Much of the hearing focused on disciplinary actions taken against faculty or students who engaged in controversial or anti-Semitic behavior on campus.

Columbia professor Joseph Andoni Massad received a lot of attention after celebrating the Hamas attack on October 7th. Shafik originally said the professor had already been fired, but later told Stefanik he would commit to dismissing Massad from his position as chairman of an academic review committee.

Democrats lamented during the hearing that other forms of discrimination have not been a priority for the commission.

“I think the Office for Civil Rights has indicated that they receive many more complaints about racism, homophobia, Islamophobia and trans students, and those also need to be addressed,” said ranking member Bobby Scott (D-Va.).

Although the hearing was more successful for Columbia, Education Committee Chair Virginia Foxx (RN.C.) indicated that the school was not out of the loop.

“While some changes have begun on campus, there is still much work to be done,” Foxx said.

“We will seek answers to the questions that were raised today in a timely manner and are prepared to bring them back if we do not see more tangible progress,” she added.