Jewish Faculty Response to Columbia University Task Force Report on Anti-Semitism
« We write as Jewish faculty of Columbia and Barnard in response to the Antisemitism Task Force’s second report, which documents a number of disturbing incidents and student experiences. We join the report’s authors in abhorring all instances of harassment, intimidation, and violence against students for being Jewish, and agree that at Columbia, “[n]o one should feel excluded, marginalized, disrespected, or unheard.” We are writing to demonstrate how the report undermines these fundamental values by subjecting the incidents described to analysis and framing that misrepresent their meaning and implications. We are troubled by the way the widely publicized report contributes to a hostile narrative about Columbia, which is used to justify interference in the institution’s governance and operations. »