Washington, D.C. – In case you missed it, today, the New York Post reported that Congresswoman Elise Stefanik led a letter from the New York Republican Congressional Delegation demanding Columbia University President Dr. Minouche Shafik resign after failing to put an end to an unsanctioned mob of students and agitators involved in documented incidents of despicable antisemitic harassment and calls for violence and terrorism against Jewish students on Columbia’s campus.
Read the full article below:
New York Post: Elise Stefanik, all NY House GOP lawmakers demand Columbia President Minouche Shafik resign immediately
By Josh Christenson and Carl Campanile
“Stefanik and bipartisan members of the House Education and Workforce Committee grilled Shafik last week over her failures to protect Jewish students from intimidation, harassment and even assaults by anti-Israel demonstrators after Hamas killed an estimated 1,200 people — including 33 US citizens — in a surprise terror attack Oct. 7.
Columbia students told reporters before the House hearing that they have been targeted for wearing Star of David necklaces and shouted “F–k the Jews” in the kosher section of campus dining halls.
That same day, demonstrators descended onto the campus and set up dozens of tents in a show of force meant to convince Columbia to divest from Israel.
Many participants have defended Hamas’ actions and called for the eradication of the Jewish state, with one holding up a sign on Saturday night that called for the Al-Qassam military brigade of the terror group to pick Israeli flag-waving Columbia students as their “next targets.”
NYPD officers arrested more than 100 participants in the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on Thursday at Shafik’s prompting, but the Republican lawmakers say the “illegal, antisemitic” demonstration had been permitted for two days beforehand — and has since been “shockingly allowed to reconvene” without police intervention.
In a Monday statement, Shafik pleaded with the undergrads to go home, saying Columbia had to “reset” and “address security concerns” from students “across an array of communities.”
“I am deeply saddened by what is happening on our campus. Our bonds as a community have been severely tested in ways that will take a great deal of time and effort to reaffirm,” Shafik also said.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who is Jewish, told The Post Columbia’s president was “waving the white flag” by opting to hold Monday classes remotely — which Blakeman called an admission Jewish students can’t be protected.
“This is outrageous. Shafik is not even adhering to Columbia’s own code of conduct. She has failed to protect the Jewish students’ right to go to class safely,” said Blakeman, a Republican, adding that “she should resign if she can’t control campus.”
“It’s a waving of the white flag. She has lost any courage. She has lost her moral compass,” he added. “Right now I’d be concerned about sending any student — letting alone a Jewish student — to Columbia.
“They have allowed the rise in antisemitism to fester. The professors are overwhelmingly liberal, woke and anti-American.”
Stefanik and the other GOP lawmakers also said Shafik’s congressional testimony had been “hollow” — pointing to conflicting statements about holding professors accused of antisemitism accountable.
Shafik testified last week that Joseph Massad, a modern Arab politics professor, was “under investigation” and would lose his post on an academic committee for his “unacceptable” conduct — including referring to the Oct. 7 massacre as “awesome.”
“President Shafik indicated that I am currently ‘under investigation’ for making discriminatory comments. This is news to me, as I have not been informed or contacted by anyone from the university to inform me of this alleged investigation,” Massad later told the far-left outlet Electronic Intifada.
“In fact, I had a meeting last week with the Columbia University Provost, Angela Olinto, about being subjected to harassment and racism by another university professor,” Massad added. “Provost Olinto conveyed to me her support and that she was sorry that I had been subjected to such harassment. The offending professor is the one currently being investigated.
“I remain the chair of the Academic Review Committee, a one-year position, for the next few weeks, which is the normal end of my chairmanship.”
The GOP letter to Shafik accused her of a “cover-up” over “the lack of punishment for pro-terror Professor Joseph Massad.”
“The words in your testimony ring hollow,” it said, “and you have clearly failed to live up to any commitment of enforcement.”
