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The House Education Committee is probing Columbia University leaders over messages that appeared to downplay fears of antisemitism on the Ivy League campus last year.
A new letter, penned by chairs Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), demands that Columbia University President Claire Shipman clarify a series of messages, including one that labeled concerns about the hostile antisemitic sentiment that has permeated the Manhattan campus as irrational and “threatening.”
Republican lawmakers said they’re seeking insight to decide if new legislation is needed to hold university leaders more accountable as volatile anti-Israel protests rage on campuses nationwide.
In the Oct. 30, 2023, WhatsApp message to then-president Minouche Shafik, Shipman wrote, “People are really frustrated and scared about antisemitism on our campus and they feel somehow betrayed by it. Which is not necessarily a rational feeling but it’s deep and it is quite threatening.”
She suggested creating a task force to “take the pressure” off Shafik, who later resigned in August 2024.
“Your description – that people feel ‘somehow’ betrayed and that this is ‘not necessarily a rational feeling,’ but that it is ‘threatening’ – is perplexing, considering the violence and harassment against Jewish and Israeli students already occurring on Columbia’s campus at the time,” the letter stated.
The lengthy memo, which included the troubling texts, was sent to the embattled institution Tuesday.
In another message sent on Jan. 17, 2024, then-Columbia trustee Shipman urged that someone of Middle Eastern or Arabic descent join the university board “quickly” – a move the pair of pols said violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“Were Columbia to act on this suggestion and appoint someone to the board specifically because of their national origin, it would implicate Title VI concerns,” the scathing letter sent to the Ivy League explained.
“The Committee’s request for clarification will inform its understanding of Columbia’s compliance with Title IV and current approach towards discrimination in appointments. In addition, this statement raises troubling questions regarding Columbia’s priorities just months after the October 7 attack, which was the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.”
A Columbia spokesperson told The Post that the text messages, which were submitted to the Committee last fall, are being shared “out of context” and reflect a “particularly difficult moment” for university leaders focused on deescalating tensions on campus.
“Columbia is deeply committed to combating antisemitism and working with the federal government on this very serious issue, including our ongoing discussions to reach an agreement with the Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism,” the spokesperson said.
“Acting President Claire Shipman has been vocally and visibly committed to eradicating antisemitism on campus; the work underway at the university to create a safe and welcoming environment for all community members makes that plain.”
The latest inquiry into the university comes about a year after it quickly became the epicenter of vicious anti-Israel protests, with agitators forcing Columbia to lock down when tent encampments descended into chaos – resulting in dozens of arrests and widespread destruction.
At the height of the mayhem, dozens of masked rioters in keffiyeh’s smashed their way inside Hamilton Hall in a savage takeover.
The violence served as the catalyst for the Trump administration yanking roughly $400 million in grants and contracts from the elite school in March over its failure to stamp out antisemitism on campus.
Shipman, who stepped into her position in March, subsequently caved to a list of Trump’s demands by agreeing to a slew of policy changes, including a mask ban and allowing campus cops to arrest students or boot them off when deemed appropriate.
The flurry of new campus reforms also now requires protesters and demonstrators to identify themselves when asked or else face disciplinary action.
In a statement to The Post, the Columbia Jewish Alumni Association called for Shipman to resign “immediately” over the “lack of empathy and disregard” over justified fears of antisemitism.
“Interim President Shipman’s statements are extremely offensive and unacceptable. They cannot be explained by ‘taken out of context,’” the statement read.
“Her lack of empathy and disregard for a board member concerned with student safety as well as deliberate isolation and a suspicion of withholding of information from a board member makes her not fit to serve in the office of president of Columbia University.”
