The Trump administration reportedly is nearing an agreement with Columbia University to restore federal funding, which was taken away because of the university’s poor record on antisemitism. Before doing so, the administration needs to ensure that Columbia truly has reformed, for Columbia has pursued an unacceptable, evenhanded approach to antisemitism and the Israel-Gaza war, at times tilting toward the anti-Israel camp.
“This is about responding to the actions of the protesters, not their cause,” read a bolded and bulleted statement, which offset expulsion and suspension consequences for protesters, outlined in a Nov. 30, 2024 email letter from the Office of Columbia Alumni Relations and Development.
“We are also dismayed to learn that a majority of our Muslim students felt a distinct sense of alienation and lack of wellbeing,” wrote the acting president, Claire Shipman, in a June 2025 letter to the Columbia community, referencing results of a survey by the Task Force on Antisemitism. Report #3 of the task force stated, “Columbia’s Jewish and Muslim students were significantly less comfortable on our campus than their peers here during the 2023–2024 academic year.” Report #2 recommended “workshops about antisemitism and Islamophobia.”
It is unfathomable that a task force on antisemitism would address Islamophobia, especially when the university had established two entities to deal with Arab students’ complaints, a university Doxing Resource Group and a Task Force on Doxing and Student Safety, established in November 2023 under the aegis of the School of International and Public Affairs.
Recently, Columbia took some positive steps, announced by the acting president in a July 16 letter to the Columbia community on the “University’s commitments to combat antisemitism,” such as adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, refusing to engage with the group Columbia University Apartheid Divest, and partnering with several national Jewish organizations on training and programming. Yet the same message also spoke of “collaborating” with other groups to “go beyond ... the focus on antisemitism.” These other groups may do fine work, but why include them in an update on combating antisemitism and blur its focus?
From the outset of the Israel-Gaza war, Columbia’s announcements showed it had no moral compass, at times siding with the protesters and equating massacred Israelis with Gazans killed in a war Hamas started. “Many of our students, faculty, staff, and colleagues are suffering great distress over the terror attacks on Israel and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” wrote the then-Columbia president, Minouche Shafik, in an Oct. 18, 2023 letter to the Columbia community, only 11 days after the Oct. 7 massacre.
“It has been equally difficult seeing the death and suffering of innocent civilians in Gaza caught up in the war,” wrote the executive vice president of development and alumni relations, Amelia J. Alverson, in an email letter of Nov. 6, 2023 to the alumni community.
In an Oct. 27, 2023 letter to the Columbia community, President Shafik quickly followed her expression of shock “to hear of several antisemitism incidents in the last couple of days” with this: “Palestinian, Muslim, or Arab students have also been subjected to harassment.”
These excerpts reveal that Columbia does not, cannot, and will not clearly and solely focus on antisemitism. Any arrangement the administration makes with Columbia University should be closely monitored.
The author holds a Ph.D. and two master’s degrees from Columbia University.
Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
