Columbia President Minouche Shafik aced the biggest test at Wednesday’s House hearing on campus antisemitism, but she was no match for House Republicans who caught her in multiple contradictions related to the school’s reaction to hate against Jewish people.
She and other Columbia officials agreed that calling for the “genocide of Jews” violates the university’s code of conduct, nailing the question that derailed the presidents of Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology at their disastrous Dec. 5 hearing.
Chairwoman Virginia Foxx set the tone for the hearing, saying Columbia “stands guilty of gross negligence at best and at worst has become a platform for those supporting terrorism and violence against the Jewish people.”
Ms. Shafik, who became Columbia’s 20th president last July 1, acknowledged that antisemitism at the New York City university has become “far too pervasive.”
“I am deeply pained by the reports of members of our community feeling harassed and targeted because of their identity or faith,” said Ms. Shafik. “We have significant and important work to do to address antisemitism on our campus and to make sure that Jewish members of our community feel safe and welcome.”
When it came to the details, however, Ms. Shafik apparently hadn’t kept up with the reading.
She said that longtime professor Joseph Massad, who called the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israeli civilians “awesome,” no longer heads the Academic Review Committee, a claim disputed by Rep. Elise Stefanik, New York Republican, after a search of the Columbia website.
“You should know this, President Shafik, but Massad is still listed as head of the Academic Review Committee. Are you aware of that?” asked Ms. Stefanik.
Ms. Shafik said, “I would need to check that,” adding that she would get back to the committee.
Asked if there had been any “anti-Jewish protests” on campus, Ms. Shafik at first said no. Later, Ms. Stefanik pointed out that some of the protests featured chants such as “death to Jews” and “f—- the Jews.”
“You don’t think those are anti-Jewish?” asked Ms. Stefanik. The president agreed they were “completely anti-Jewish” but that protests were labeled as anti-Israeli government events where “anti-Jewish things were said.”
Ms. Stefanik shot back: “Thank you for changing your testimony.”
Ms. Shafik also struggled when asked whether the phrase “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” was antisemitic. She said that some people did view it as antisemitic, while others did not.
Again, she was cornered by Ms. Stefanik, who asked her if she supported the House resolution condemning antisemitism that passed in December. She said she did. Ms. Stefanik pointed out that the resolution describes the “from the river to the sea” as a “rallying cry for the eradication of the state of Israel and Jewish people.”
Antisemitic professor Joseph Massad still appears on @Columbia’s website as chair of the academic review committee even after university President Shafik claimed he was removed.
— Rep. Elise Stefanik (@RepStefanik) April 17, 2024
Her lack of action to combat antisemitism is exactly what has fostered Jewish hate on campus. pic.twitter.com/AM6Kd6xFHt
Ms. Stefanik later issued a statement blasting the “president’s moral equivocation on antisemitism” and “glaringly inconsistent testimony.”
The hearing ended on a rough note for Columbia. At one point, Ms. Shafik said that the university has issued 15 suspensions related to antisemitic incidents, a claim that Ms. Foxx called “misleading.”
The North Carolina Republican said that from Oct. 7 to March 23, only three students were given interim suspensions for antisemitic conduct, and that all three were lifted or reduced to probation, including a student “who repeatedly harassed students, screaming ‘f—- the Jews.’”
Ms. Foxx said the only students who remain suspended for “incidents related to Oct. 7 that took place before we called Dr. Shafik to testify” are two Jewish students who sprayed an odorous substance at a pro-Palestinian rally.
The students were accused of a “chemical attack,” but according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday, the substance was a prank spray.
“Dr. Shafik’s testimony was misleading there, too,” said Ms. Foxx. “Documents Columbia produced to the committee show that the substance sprayed was a nontoxic gag spray. While that was an inappropriate action, for months, Jewish students have been vilified with false accusations of a ‘chemical attack,’ and Columbia failed to correct the record.”
Also testifying were Columbia Board of Trustees co-chairs David Greenwald and Claire Shipman and Professor David Schizer, co-chair of the university’s antisemitism task force.
At the December hearing, the presidents of Harvard, Penn, and MIT said that whether calling for the “genocide of Jews” violated campus rules would depend on the context. Harvard President Claudine Gay and Penn President Liz Magill later resigned amid the ensuing backlash.
Rep. Aaron Bean, Florida Republican, congratulated the Columbia officials for saying “the right things,” but argued that their words failed to match their actions, given the rising fear among Jewish students on the Manhattan campus.
“Columbia beats Harvard and UPenn!” said Mr. Bean. “Y’all have done something they weren’t able to do: You’ve been able to condemn antisemitism without using the phrase, ‘it depends on the context.’ But the problem is the action on campus doesn’t match your rhetoric today.”
Prior to the hearing, House Republicans held a press conference featuring Columbia students who ticked off examples of harassment and even physical assaults. One student was told by campus security not to wear anything identifying him as Jewish, according to junior Yola Ashkenazie.
“They can’t walk across campus without getting the F-word yelled at them: ‘F—- Jews, intifada,’ all kinds of things,” said Mr. Bean. “My heart aches for them. It should be hard academically at Columbia, but it shouldn’t be hard to walk across campus, and it is.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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