Majority of Jewish students at Columbia say they don't feel accepted
Columbia University recently released a report about anti-Semitic behavior at the school, which says that most Jewish Columbia students have faced religious discrimination.
The report, based on surveys conducted from June to September 2024, reveals that most Jewish students feel unwelcome at the New York City university.
Columbia University recently released a report about anti-Semitic behavior at the school, which says that most Jewish Columbia students have faced religious discrimination.
The report, based on surveys conducted from June to September 2024, reveals that most Jewish students feel unwelcome at the New York City university.
Around 62 percent of Jewish students reported that they “they did not feel accepted for their religious identities at Columbia,” while 53 percent of Jewish students reported being subject to religious discrimination at some point during the 2023-2024 school year.
Only 34 percent of Jewish students at the school reported “positive sentiments of belonging,” according to the report.
“As a proud alumna who has spent decades championing this institution, I found the results of this survey difficult to read,” Columbia Acting President Claire Shipman said in a statement about the results. “The increase in horrific antisemitic violence in the U.S. and across the globe in recent weeks and months serves as a constant, brutal reminder of the dangers of anti-Jewish bigotry.”
Campus Reform has extensively reported about anti-Jewish sentiment at major institutions like Columbia.
In March, pro-Palestine demonstrators created a flier that detailed steps for vandalizing items on campus, including “smashing windows” and spray-painting slogans.
“Smashing stuff can also be very quick to do,” the flier stated. “With an efficient sledgehammer in your hand, you can cause quite a bit of damage! Smashing windows often only takes one or two swings. But air conditioning units, cameras and other external equipment can sabotage the profits of your target even further.”
During the spring semester, a former protester at Columbia also previously claimed to have built guns with the intention of using them to “kill Jews.”
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Following these reports, the Trump administration pulled $400 million in funding from the school, resulting in around 180 research staff being laid off.
In her June 18 statement, President Shipman also acknowledged the institution’s failure to uphold its values and pledged continued reforms to improve the campus climate.
“Indeed, the results—that in the 2023-2024 academic year a majority of our Jewish students felt they were not accepted here because of their religious identity—confirm the undeniable and painful reality that we failed to adhere to our values and failed to meet the expectations we set for our campus community,” Shipman stated.
