Susan Chang-Kim, vice dean and chief administrative officer of Columbia College; Cristen Kromm, the college’s dean of undergraduate student life; and Matthew Patashnick, associate dean of student and family support, have been placed on permanent leave.
Last week, I reported that Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) again demanded accountability for Columbia University administrators after releasing text messages received as part of the Committee’s ongoing antisemitism investigation that show the disparaging and dismissive attitudes Columbia’s administrators hold towards Jewish students (Columbia Administrators’ Texts Reveal New Depths of Apathy and Disdain Toward Jewish Students).
Following reports that four Columbia deans had exchanged disparaging text messages as members of the university’s Jewish community discussed antisemitism in a panel on Jewish life on campus, Chairwoman Foxx demanded that the texts be turned over to the Committee as part of its ongoing investigation into antisemitism at colleges and universities. The subsequent production offered a small but clear window into the administrators’ determination to belittle the antisemitism on campus.
Columbia College dean Josef Sorett, who participated in the group text exchange, was not fired, even though more than 1,400 alumni and community members signed a petition calling for his removal. Sorett stays because, according to the provost, Angela Olinto, “He has apologized and taken full responsibility, committing to the work and collaboration necessary to heal the community and learn from this moment, and make sure nothing like this ever happens again.”
Come to think of it, can the pro-Hamas camping site be turned into reeducation camping?
The text messages, which include numerous offensive messages that have not previously been reported, show senior Columbia College administrators mocking and disparaging the university’s Jewish community, and trafficking in antisemitic tropes regarding Jews and money. The texts accused Jewish students of coming from a “place of privilege,” dismissed their concerns, disparaged officials responsible for Jewish student life, and insinuated that efforts to address the explosion of antisemitism on Columbia’s campus were merely a fundraising ploy.
“They will have their own dorm soon,” Patashnick said about Jewish students, when the head of Columbia Hillel, Brian Cohen, said that many Jews felt uncomfortable in their dormitories following the Oct. 7 attacks.
“Comes from such a place of privilege,” Chang-Kim texted. “Trying to be open-minded to understand but the doors are closing.”
The deans ridiculed Cohen’s report of offering psychological counseling to Jewish and Israeli students following Oct. 7, suggesting the Jews and Israelis were receiving special treatment that was denied to other groups.
“Not all heroes wear capes,” Patashnick texted.
“If only every identity community had these resources and support,” Kromm replied.
