New Anti-Semitism Task Force Report

Columbia’s controversial Task Force on Antisemitism has released a third report. This one summarizes the results of a student survey on the campus climate commissioned by the task force. The survey is not perfect, but it’s not bad, and it’s worth looking at the results, which show—unsurprisingly but nonetheless with the force of some quantitative rigor—that both Muslim and Jewish students felt alienated from and even sometimes fearful of the atmosphere on campus during last year’s protests.

Some examples:

% of students who felt discriminated against for their religion:

Jewish students: 53%

Muslim students: 43%

Christian students: 6%

% who would feel “very comfortable” reporting a hate-based issue or attack:

Jewish students: 25%

Muslim students: 18%

Christian students: 32%

% who felt they were in “personal danger” because of their support for either Israel or Palestine during the current war:

Jewish students, for supporting Jews or Israel: 53%

Jewish students, for supporting Muslims or Palestinians: 9%

Muslim students, for supporting Muslims or Palestinians: 63%

Long story short: At a far greater rate than their peers, Muslim and Jewish students had a hard time on campus over the past year. In response to certain questions, Jewish students had a harder time; in response to others (like the last question above about personal safety), Muslim students did.

This is also the conclusion that the authors of the task force came to. “Many Columbia students had a difficult experience on campus during the 2023-24 academic year,” they write. “By far the most significant challenges were faced by Jewish and Muslim students.”

OK! Good! We agree.

Unfortunately, President Shipman has read some different version of the report.

Her introduction of the report in a school-wide email says the following:

As a proud alumna who has spent decades championing this institution, I found the results of this survey difficult to read. They put the challenges we face in stark relief. 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, underscores the urgency with which all concerned citizens need to act in addressing it head-on, and the fact that antisemitism can and should be addressed as a unique form of hatred.

I will also say, though, that I appreciate the decision that the members of our Task Force on Antisemitism made to focus on our entire student population. Our efforts to improve the campus climate are strengthened by efforts to benchmark broadly, and to understand and address discrimination and harassment against other groups, including Muslim and Arab students, who, in many cases, believe their fears are being ignored or marginalized.

The data from this survey helps us understand what took place on our campus during the 2023-2024 academic year and reaffirms the need for the many changes we have implemented.

To be very clear, we have been aware of the extent of the immense challenges faced by our Jewish students for some time and have been working very hard to make the changes we know are necessary to improve the campus climate. These changes include new and expanded efforts to investigate complaints, improve our disciplinary processes, manage protests and demonstrations, prevent and address online harassment, and ensure the safety of our campus community. We have made a lot of progress since the 2023-2024 academic year, but we know there is still more work to be done.

This appears to be what our students would call “gaslighting.” In presenting a report that shows (and explicitly says it shows) basically equal levels of fear and discomfort on the part of Muslim and Jewish students, Shipman repeatedly emphasizes the experiences of Jewish students and relegates “Muslim and Arab students” to a non-restrictive clause in between two commas. Jews are subjected to “horrific violence,” while Muslim and Arab students “believe their fears are being ignored.”

This would be strange and odd if it weren’t for the fact that it is clear who this message is intended for. It is not intended for our Columbia community, for the students who feel worried or fearful (as they’ve just told us in a survey we asked them to fill out). Instead, it is intended solely for the people in the federal government and their collaborators at Columbia, who continue to pretend that they are very concerned about antisemitism even as they continue to appoint and promote antisemites to their government—and we, for some reason, continue to let them pretend.