Since October 7th, this Committee and the nation have watched in horror as so
many of our college campuses, particularly the most expensive, so-called elite
schools, have erupted into hotbeds of antisemitism and hate.
Dr. Shafik [shuh-feek], Mr. Schizer [shiz-zer, rhymes with scissor], Ms. Shipman, and
Mr. Greenwald, you are here testifying today because Columbia University is
one of the worst of those hotbeds and we have seen far too little, far too late
done to counter that and protect students and staff. 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.
For example, just four days after the harrowing October 7 attack, a former
Columbia undergraduate beat an Israeli student with a stick while shouting
racial epithets.
The following day, a crowd of anti-Israel protestors marched on the university’s
Kraft Center for Jewish Life, causing the building to be locked down and forcing
Jewish students to shelter inside.
More recently, on March 24, anti-Israel groups hosted a “Resistance 101″ event
in a Columbia dorm featuring speakers linked to U.S. and Israel-designated
foreign terrorist organizations, including the PFLP. Speakers explicitly endorsed
terrorism and called on students to support it. This unauthorized event was
nevertheless promoted by Columbia faculty and staff.
That a taxpayer funded institution would become a forum for the promotion of
terrorism raises serious questions.
Moreover, Columbia administrators have repeatedly failed in their duty to
protect Jewish students from this hateful, retrograde form of discrimination.
Don’t take my word for it. In February, Columbia undergraduate Eden Yadegar
told the Committee, “It is impossible to exist as a Jewish student at Columbia
without running face first into antisemitism every single day. Jew-hatred is so
deeply embedded into campus culture, that it has become casual and
palatable among students and faculty and neglected by administrators.”
Let me repeat: neglected by administrators.
Eden and some of her fellow Jewish classmates are in attendance today. I
believe they deserve direct and clear answers about how you will address their
concerns.
I need not remind you that this is not just a moral duty, but a legal duty set forth
in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Source: Elections - nytimes.com
