Columbia’s Antisemitism Task Force Finds ‘Urgent Need’ for Change
The New York Times
The group, which had previously resisted defining “antisemitism,” issued a definition, and called on the university to institute anti-bias training and revamp its systems for handling complaints.
A Columbia University task force set up to combat antisemitism on campus released its latest report on Friday, detailing numerous instances of harassment and even physical violence directed at Jewish students in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. The task force found “an urgent need to reshape everyday social norms” at Columbia and recommended changes in how the university prevents and responds to bias incidents.
Students will return on Tuesday to a campus that was roiled by pro-Palestinian protests in the spring, culminating in a canceled commencement ceremony in May. The 90-page report, based in part on listening sessions with students, follows one published in March that called for limits on protests and stronger enforcement of existing rules.
Since Oct. 7, the task force found, Jewish and Israeli students described being harassed with ethnic slurs and stereotypes, threatened and in some cases assaulted, and some said they were barred from certain student groups because of their Zionism. The task force heard from nearly 500 students, according to the latest report.
Most of the student experiences detailed in both reports took place before a pro-Palestinian encampment sprung up on campus in April; “at that point, things got worse,” Friday’s report said.
“Students came to share their stories from a variety of religious, geographical, ideological, national, racial, ethnic and political backgrounds,” the report said. “We heard from Zionists, and anti-Zionists, and those whose opinions are not easily categorized.”
Ester R. Fuchs, a public affairs professor at Columbia and a co-chair of the task force, said that what set this report apart from similar efforts at other universities was its focus on student voices.
