Alma Adams Asks Columbia University Officials About Efforts To Deal With Antisemitism On Campus

7 months ago

At a House Education Committee hearing last week, Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC) spoke to Columbia University officials about antisemitism on campus.

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Transcript

00:00 Thank you, Mr. Wahlberg.

00:01 Dr. Adams, you are recognized for five minutes.

00:06 Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank the witnesses for being here today.

00:11 Many of us here never would have imagined that we would be concerned about the safety

00:17 of Jewish Americans in New York.

00:19 Of all places, Jewish Americans have faced some of the highest levels of anti-Semitic

00:26 incidents since the FBI began monitoring.

00:30 Anti-Semitic incidents at U.S. college campuses have increased in both number and intensity

00:37 since October 7th, and as a former professor myself of 40 years, I'll tell you on a campus

00:43 that is unacceptable.

00:46 Seventy-three percent of Jewish college students have experienced or witnessed some form of

00:53 anti-Semitism since the beginning of the school year, and only one-third of Jewish students

00:59 felt safe on campuses.

01:01 I think every student should feel safe on any campus that they're studying on.

01:06 But Mr. Scheiser, let me ask you, you are co-chair of the Task Force on Anti-Semitism

01:12 on your campus.

01:14 How has the task force recognized the unique challenges that Columbia faces in dealing

01:20 with protests and demonstrations, harassment, allegations, and overall threats to segments

01:27 of the student population while being an urban and open campus in one of the largest cities

01:32 in the world?

01:34 It's a critical responsibility, Congresswoman, for exactly the reasons that you described.

01:39 This is not an acceptable situation.

01:41 I do want to say there are wonderful things happening at Columbia too, and part of what

01:46 moves me is how many people have pitched in to make sure that we deal with this problem.

01:51 But the problem is there, and it is not yet fixed.

01:54 And I will say that our first step was to look at rules for protests, and I am very

01:58 grateful that our responses have been taken so seriously.

02:02 And as I said, the university is implementing all of our recommendations, but we're only

02:06 just getting started.

02:07 We have another report coming out next month.

02:09 We've got to look at student orientations.

02:11 We've got to look at the way we train people who deal with students.

02:15 We've got to look at the policies for student groups to make sure that people don't get

02:19 excluded.

02:20 And then we have more reports that we have in mind for next year, including careful research

02:25 to get detailed insights into the people who've been victims of this discrimination, because

02:30 we need to understand it and we need to stop it.

02:33 Thank you, sir.

02:34 So you're expecting recommendations from this?

02:38 Okay.

02:39 So Columbia is over 270 years old.

02:43 That's almost three decades, or three centuries, actually.

02:48 It wasn't until 1873 that Columbia became an integrated institution by allowing its

02:54 first black student by the name of James R. Priest to enroll, who was also the son of

03:00 a former slave.

03:01 Over history, your missions and role have evolved as an institution of higher education.

03:07 My question to you is, how do the trustees work to ensure that Columbia remains true

03:14 to its practice of progress while making sure that it is welcoming and responsive to demographic

03:21 groups that it was not originally designed to serve?

03:25 Yes, it is.

03:30 So one of the great privileges of being at a university is a diverse student body.

03:36 People who come from very different backgrounds who then meet each other, learn from each

03:40 other, learn with each other, and we need to be sure that that continues to happen in

03:45 all the ways that universities do well.

03:48 And one of the challenges of the recent months is that I think we've fallen short in various

03:53 ways, but the aspiration is there, and our commitment to be welcoming and also open has

03:59 to apply to everyone.

04:01 Thank you.

04:02 Ms. Shipman or Mr. Greenwald, would you like to respond?

04:06 You've got 57 seconds.

04:10 I agree with Professor Schisser.

04:13 Bringing diverse people to campus, coming from different backgrounds, different places

04:18 in the country, different places around the world, is enriching to their educational experience.

04:24 Okay.

04:25 Ms. Shipman?

04:26 I agree with that.

04:28 Congresswoman, I would also say that fundamentally our institution has got to be about respect,

04:36 and that is sorely lacking on our campus right now, and we can have diversity and different

04:41 points of view, but if people are not listening and they're weaponizing their sentiments,

04:46 nobody's learning.

04:47 Yes, ma'am.

04:48 Well, certainly the goal should be to ensure that every member of a campus community can

04:53 reach their full potential without additional burdens of stereotypes and biases and systemic

04:58 barriers, and I hope that Columbia can take, and our universities can take some steps to

05:07 support students on the ground.

05:09 With that, Madam Chair, I'm going to yield back.

05:10 I only have about six seconds.

05:14 Thank you, Dr. Adams.

Alma Adams Asks Columbia University Officials About Efforts To Deal With Antisemitism On Campus

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