Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV), representing over 2,500 traditional, Orthodox rabbis in American public policy, today called for Columbia President Minouche Shafik to resign or be fired by the Board of Trustees. This comes after Shafik announced that three of the four faculty who spent a session about anti-Jewish hate exchanging text messages ridiculing the speakers and sharing antisemitic tropes were removed from their positions—but retained on Columbia’s payroll—while the fourth, Josef Sorett, is slated to remain as Dean.

This situation is especially disturbing for CJV Vice President Rabbi Dov Fischer and CJV Israel Regional Vice President Rabbi Steven Pruzansky, as both are Columbia alumni and remember when the school was both tolerant and welcoming for Jewish students and faculty. Rabbi Pruzansky made the following statement:

The bigotry and double standards are blatant, and entirely at odds with the experiences that I and others had at Columbia in the past. Imagine if something like this had happened during a session when Black, Latino, Pacific Islander, or LGBTQ faculty and students were speaking about hostility they faced on campus. Any faculty dismissing their concerns, much less ridiculing them or sharing hateful sentiments, would find themselves unemployed without delay.
 
But regarding antisemitism, President Shafik demonstrates the very ‘lack of seriousness’ she claims to decry. It is clear that all four who exchanged antisemitic messages, plus Shafik herself, must be removed from the faculty and replaced by others committed to opposing and preventing hate against Jews and all other campus minorities. This is the only way that Columbia can hope to return to being a serious academic institution where all students feel safe and valued.

Photo Credit: Ajay Suresh on Flickr