Columbia's response proves that it cares more about firefighting for its reputation than actually addressing the problem of antisemitism on campus. The proof you need comes from the fourth participant in the text exchanges - Josef Sorett, the dean of Columbia College.
When the first set of messages were publicized, Sorrett's role in the thread was not known. He made a ham-handed attempt at tamping down the flames, writing an email saying “I have already spoken to each person involved and we understand that, as leaders, we are held to a higher standard.”
That sounds like he is saying it would be acceptable for students and even faculty to spout antisemitic tropes, but deans should be more careful.
Then, Sorrett whined that the initial photos of the texts were an "invasion of privacy."
This is not a serious response. This is a poor attempt to make the problem go away.
Only after the full threads were released, and his participation publicized, did he personally apologize. Meaning, Sorrett really doesn't feel he needs to apologize, but he was forced to.
This is not someone who should remain in a position of responsibility - but he has kept his job.
Which shows that Columbia is not taking this seriously, despite a pledge to increase education on antisemitism (which, we all know, will end up including "Islamophobia.")
Columbia and the Ivy League are not looking at this incident as a wakeup call of the new antisemitism being part and parcel of their faculty and administration, but as an embarrassing incident that must be managed. This isn't prompting them to take a hard look at the socialist radicals and how they have taken over campuses, how DEI and other philosophies go against the liberal principles that built this country, how hundreds of millions of dollars from Arab countries influence the curriculum.
No, they are looking at this as a small fire that must be stamped out and then things can get back to normal.
The reason, of course, is because the presidents and boards of these universities, deep down, agree with the texts of the deans at Columbia. They are upset that they were stupid enough to get caught, not at what they actually said and the thinking that led to that.
The rot at universities has been spreading for decades. The entire generation of university leaders has been infected with this virus of hate masquerading as "progressivism."
The deans are not the problem. They are a symptom. And I am not seeing any universities that have publicly recognized this sad fact, because fixing that problem cannot be fixed with a couple of mandatory Zoom sessions on antisemitism. .
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