The “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” at Columbia University, located in the Manhattan borough of New York City, on April 25, 2024. Photo: Reuters Connect

US lawmakers on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce have demanded that Columbia University administrators hand over text messages which purportedly mocked concerns over rising antisemitism on campus.

On May 31, Columbia held several panel discussions as alumni arrived at the New York City campus to celebrate their class reunions. One of the panels focused on Jewish life on campus, during which top Columbia administrators exchanged text messages belittling the testimonies of the speakers, according to The Washington Free Beacon.

While the event was underway, one administrator reportedly sent a vomit emoji in the group chat. Another stated that the testimonies were “difficult to listen to” but they were “trying to keep an open mind.” One message suggested that Jewish figures on campus were exploiting the moment for “fundraising potential.”

The leaked messages sparked outrage and circulated like wildfire on social media. After being made aware of the texts, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce this week demanded the university release the entirety of the exchanges. The committee has given the university a deadline of June 26 to comply with its demands. 

“I was appalled, but sadly not surprised, to learn Columbia administrators exchanged disparaging text messages during a panel that discussed antisemitism at the university,” Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), the committee’s chairwoman, said in a statement. “Dean Josef Sorrett’s weak private ‘apology’ to the College’s Board of Visitors shows that the school doesn’t get it. Columbia’s Jewish community deserves better than this. I have requested Columbia produce these administrators’ texts by June 26.”

Shabbos Kestenbaum, a Jewish student at Harvard who has chronicled the surge of antisemitic campus incidents following the Oct. 7 terror attacks on Israel, told The Algemeiner that he is not surprised that Columbia administrators mocked Jewish community members through texts. 

“The story at Columbia simply reinforces what Jewish students across the country already know: we are treated categorically different than every other minority group,” Kestenbaum said.   

The committee has been trying to hold Columbia University “accountable” for enabling an allegedly antisemitic environment on campus.

In February, Foxx sent Columbia a request to hand over documents related to its internal antisemitism investigation, citing “assaults, harassment, and vandalism” targeting Jewish students on campus. Later that same month, the chairwoman held a roundtable with Jewish students from multiple campuses — including Columbia — which were embroiled in high-profile antisemitism scandals.

In April, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce summoned Columbia President Minouche Shafik and other university leaders to attend a hearing on her administration’s alleged failure to address antisemitism, which prompted a congressional investigation

Later that month, Foxx accompanied House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to visit Columbia University as violent and disruptive encampments erected by pro-Hamas activists rocked their campus. 

“I have a message. President Shafik, the inmates are running the asylum. Take back control of this once-great institution,” Foxx said.