Texting displays Columbia disregard for its Jews

A two-hour panel discussion on the past, present and future of Jewish life at Columbia University resulted in a childish flurry of offensive reactions from four school administrators, according to the Washington Free Beacon.

Photos from the event — held during a class reunion weekend on May 31 — revealed a text-message chat between four administrators sitting in the audience: Josef Sorett, dean of Columbia College; Susan Chang-Kim, vice dean and chief administrative officer of Columbia College; Cristen Kromm, dean of undergraduate student life; and Matthew Patashnick, associate dean for student and family support.

Incorporating an antisemitic trope about Jews and money, Patashnick wrote that one of the panelists “knows exactly what he’s doing and how to take full advantage of this moment. Huge fundraising potential.” Chang-Kim chimed in that the panel is “making the administration look like jokers.”

She continued, texting Sorett: “This is difficult to listen to but I’m trying to keep an open mind to learn about this point of view.”

“Yup,” he replied, adding that she doubted the reported experiences of Jewish students on campus: “Did we really have students being kicked out of clubs for being Jewish?”

The Beacon wrote that “the text messages betray an attitude of ignorance and indifference toward the concerns of Jewish students on a campus” that was rocked with some of the worst anti-Jewish, anti-Israel actions and rhetoric in the United States this spring.

When one of the panelists broke down crying over her daughter’s antisemitic experiences this year at Columbia, Chang-Kim shared “nauseous” and “vomiting” emojis with the group.