Columbia deans finally resign after antisemitic message exchange during meeting

Three deans at Columbia University finally tendered their resignations two months after they were caught exchanging antisemitic texts during a panel discussion on campus life for Jews.

The school confirmed the resignations a month after the deans were put on indefinite leave following public outrage over the May 31 texts, according to Fox5NY.

Columbia University President Minouche Shafik said in a July 8 letter the messages were unprofessional and “disturbingly touched on ancient antisemitic tropes,” reported Fox5. “Whether intended as such or not, these sentiments are unacceptable and deeply upsetting.”

Former deans Cristen Kromm and Matthew Patashnick oversaw campus life and university support for students, said the Associated Press (AP). The third dean to resign, Susan Chang-Kim, was vice dean and chief administrator for the university, according to CBS News. 

None of the former Columbia administrators were available for comment, said the AP.

The Washington Free Beacon broke the story about the anti-Jewish messages on June 18, after an anonymous Columbia graduate and donor to the university shared photos of the text messages with the news outlet.

“My decision to take and disseminate those photographs was an act of loyalty to the school I love – or used to – and a plea for Columbia to uphold its values,” said the alumnus. “No more words. It’s time for the university to demonstrate through its actions that anti-Semitism has no place at Columbia.” 

Some of the offending texts disparaged the panel discussion as an attempt to merely fundraise off of fears of antisemitism on campus.

“He knows exactly what he’s doing and how to take full advantage of this moment. Huge fundraising potential,” said one of the texts shared at the Free Beacon.

“Urgh,” answered one of the now-former deans.

Following the revelations, North Carolina U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, chair of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, demanded Columbia University turn over the texts to the committee. 

In a February roundtable Foxx held with Jewish students, a Columbia student said, “Jew-hatred is so deeply embedded into campus culture, that it has become casual and palatable among students and faculty and neglected by administrators.” 

The testimony was in response to menacing protests by pro-Hamas groups at Columbia, which eventually required police to arrest the protestors who “occupied, vandalized, and blockaded” a portion of the campus.  

Prior to the resignations, anti-Israeli protestors broke into a Columbia University administrator’s house and dumped bugs and sprayed red paint, as well as painting symbols associated with Nazis and Hamas inside and outside the home, said the New York Post.  

“Did you enjoy our present? Did it make you uncomfortable? What you felt was incomparable to the pain you made Columbia students feel when you signed off on their brutalization because they stood against the genocide of Palestinians,” said the note claiming responsibility.  

An apologetic fourth dean who was involved in the text messaging scandal will retain his job at the university.  

“I am deeply sorry that this happened in a community that I lead, and that I was part of any of the exchanges, and I pledge to spearhead the change we need to ensure this never happens again,” said Dean Josef Sorret, according to CBS.  

On Aug. 1, Foxx demanded the university “submit priority documents for its investigation into on-campus antisemitism,” and threatened to issue congressional subpoenas if Columbia didn’t comply by last Thursday, said the Columbia Spectator.  

Terms agreed to by Columbia to secure the resignations from the deans have not been released, and Columbia has failed to respond to requests for a statement.  

But when Harvard President Claudine Gay was forced out of the top spot at that university, she was allowed to keep her $900,000 annual salary and given an unspecified post at the school.