Three Columbia University deans have been placed on leave after being caught exchanging shocking text messages during a panel on anti-Semitism.
Footage captured by an attendee showed Susan Chang-Kim, Matthew Patashnick and Cristen Kromm firing off dismissive texts about the May 31 conference on hostility directed toward Jews on campus.
As speakers talked about the rise in anti-Jewish sentiment following the Hamas terrorist attacks on October 7, the deans sent each other vomiting emojis and concluded that the speakers were only there for the event’s “fundraising potential.”
In an apology to Columbia’s Board of Visitors, Josef Sorett, dean of the university’s Columbia College — who was also part of the texts but was not disciplined — said the texts “do not reflect the views of any individual or team.” reflect.’
Sorett’s apology also took aim at the alumni in the audience who caught the texts over Chang-Kim’s shoulder, who he said were guilty of an “invasion of privacy.”
Three Columbia University deans have been placed on leave after being caught exchanging shocking text messages during a panel on anti-Semitism, including sending vomiting emojis
The emergence of the lyrics has sparked outrage on campus, which was rocked by months of anti-Israel protests in the wake of the war with Hamas.
To address the crisis, Columbia organized the event to bring together a number of voices on Jewish life at the institution, including Brian Cohen, executive director of Columbia’s Kraft Center for Jewish Life, and former Columbia Law School Dean David Schizer, co-chair of the elite school’s anti-Semitism task force.
The speakers included a Jewish alumna who broke down in tears as she described her second daughter’s experience on campus.
But as they spoke, the three deans belittled their efforts, in text messages first reported by the Washington free beacon.
In one series of texts, Kromm showed his distaste for a 2023 Spectator op-ed titled “Sounding the Alarm,” written by Columbia campus rabbi Yonah Hain, by referring to the article with vomiting emojis.
As the mother burst into tears, he joked, “And we thought Yonah had raised the alarm.”
“This panel really makes the administration look like jokers,” another text read.
In one conversation, the deans cast doubt on the motivations of the Jewish speakers at the event, noting that it had “tremendous fundraising potential.”
Administrators also dismissed accounts from Jewish speakers about experiences of anti-Semitism among the student population and questioned whether people had been kicked out of clubs based solely on their religion.
“This panel really makes the administration look like jokers,” another text read
The deans were also caught suggesting that the speakers had motives other than raising awareness of anti-Semitism on campus and were exploiting the situation for their own gain.
‘He knows exactly what he is doing and how to make the most of this moment. Huge potential for fundraising,” Pataschnick, the dean for student and family support, texted Chang-Kim.
“Double urgency,” Chang-Kim replied.
The administrators also question stories from Jewish speakers about experiences with anti-Semitism among the student population.
Schizer told the audience that he was baffled by how “you can be a student who (wants to join a club)… and suddenly you actually find out that because you are a Zionist and you are proud of your ties to Israel, that you will be explicitly kicked out, or that you are simply not welcome.
“And I find that completely unacceptable.”
“Have we really experienced students being kicked out of clubs because they were Jewish?” Chang-Kim wondered, to which Pataschnick said, “As far as I know, no one has been actively evicted.”
The emergence of the texts has sparked outrage on campus, which was rocked by months of anti-Israel protests in the wake of the war with Hamas.
After the text messages sparked backlash on campus, Sorett apologized in an email to the board of visitors for the “damage” the exchanges caused.
He emphasized that the comments “do not reflect the views of any individual or the team,” and “reiterated his commitment to learn from this situation and other incidents over the past year to build a community of respect and healthy dialogue .’
A Columbia spokesperson added New York Post: “We are committed to combating anti-Semitism and taking sustained, concrete action to ensure Columbia is a campus where Jewish students and everyone in our community feel safe, valued and able to thrive.”
After the texts were made public, Columbia University placed the three deans on leave.
“The dean of Columbia College informed his team today that three administrators have been placed on leave pending a university investigation into the incident that occurred several weeks ago at the College’s alumni reunion,” the college told the Washington Free Beacon.
Sorett added that, following his own participation in the lyrics, he “reiterated his commitment to learning from this situation and other incidents over the past year to build a community of respect and healthy dialogue.”