Columbia University administrators shared important updates during a congressional hearing on Wednesday regarding their handling of recent incidents on campus since October 7.
The university suspended two students for allegedly spraying a chemical on their peers during a rally for Gaza in January, is investigating a professor for online harassment of students involved in pro-Palestine activism, and is taking action against two professors for making comments deemed antisemitic.
Columbia’s leadership also acknowledged to the House Committee on Education and Workforce that more needs to be done to address campus antisemitism, the focus of the hearing. Testimonies were given by Columbia University President Nemat Minouche Shafik, former Law School dean and Task Force on Antisemitism co-chair David Schizer, and Board of Trustees co-chairs Claire Shipman and David Greenwald.
Outside the hearing room, a Columbia student expressed their desire to hear from the university president amidst a gathering of individuals displaying support for Palestine. Chants calling for the students to be allowed into the hearing room ensued.
The hearing, following a viral December session on campus antisemitism, addressed concerns raised by Republican lawmakers about academic courses and critiques of capitalism. It also delved into the university’s response to recent controversies.
Questions were raised about professors accused of antisemitism, including Joseph Massad and Mohamed Abdou. Massad’s writing was scrutinized for its perceived glorification of violence, leading to his removal from a leadership position. Abdou was terminated for expressing support for Hamas online.
Throughout the hearing, Columbia’s response to antisemitism and actions taken against faculty members were scrutinized, with commitments made to address the issues raised.
Both Stefanik and Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., invoked the phrase âfrom the river to the sea, Palestine will be freeâ as definitionally antisemitic, pressing the Columbia panel to agree with the assumption. The panelists did not push back on the interpretation of the phrase, which many Palestinians and their allies view as an aspirational call for equality.
Stefanik and Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, also cited allegations of Hamas beheading babies â a claim that has repeatedly been shown to be unverified, and that even the Israeli military said it couldnât confirm.
Asked about the reporting that encourages caution before taking the claim as fact, Owens dug his heels in. âYouâre going to have to do your homework,â he told The Intercept. âYou can debate that with anybody you want to, but itâs true. Itâs very obvious. The videos are out there.â
The hearing also prompted new disclosures about the universityâs response to a chemical being sprayed during a January campus rally for Gaza, an issue first raised by Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y.
Shafik said the two alleged perpetrators were suspended, the universityâs first public admission of this fact, while Foxx said in her closing remarks that documents provided to her by Columbia show that the substance sprayed was a ânon-toxic gag spray.â
On Tuesday, one of the students filed a pseudonymous lawsuit against the school, alleging an âegregious miscarriage of justiceâ because of the schoolâs rush to âsilence Plaintiff and brand him as a criminal for harmlessly exercising his freedom of expression in opposition to a pro-Hamas pro Palestine rally.â
The plaintiff, who is identified in the lawsuit only as John Doe, said that he, âas a harmless expression of his speech, sprayed into the air a novelty, non-toxic âfartâ spray named âLiquid Assâ and âWet Fartsâ which he purchased on Amazon for $26.11.â
Just days ago, The Intercept asked Columbia about its investigation into the incident. The school deferred to the New York Police Department, which said that the investigation remains âongoing,â and that the suspectsâ identities were âunknown.â According to the lawsuit, however, the school placed the plaintiff on interim suspension âalmost instantly,â and on March 13 finalized the decision to suspend him through May 2025.
