Three Columbia University deans have been placed on leave after sending offensive text messages, including a vomiting face emoji, during a panel discussion on antisemitism at a recent alumni gathering.
An unidentified participant of the May 31 discussion regarding Jewish life on campus took pictures of the text exchange between associate deans and administrators at the Ivy League institution, including Josef Sorett, Susan Chang-Kim, Matthew Patashnick, and Cristen Kromm.
Other speakers included Ian Rottenberg, the university’s dean of religious life; David Schizer, former dean of Columbia Law School who co-chaired the school’s antisemitism task force; Brian Cohen, executive director of Columbia’s Kraft Center for Jewish Life, and student Rebecca Massel, who covered anti-Israel campus protests for the Columbia Daily Spectator.
Footage acquired by conservative news outlet The Free Beacon shows Chang-Kim, Columbia’s vice dean and chief administrative officer, and dean Josef Sorett allegedly texting each other throughout the 2-hour-long panel. In one interaction, the former sent the latter a scathing message about Brian Cohen, the executive director of Columbia/Barnard Hillel, and Mr. Sorett texted back, “LMAO” (“laughing my ass off”).
Footage also shows Kromm, the dean of undergraduate student life, texting her coworkers about an opinion piece titled “Sounding the Alarm” that Columbia University campus rabbi Yonah Hain wrote in October 2023. In his article, Hain warned that the university community had “lost its moral compass” as troubling anti-Israel demonstrations started to spread throughout campus in the fall. Photographs reveal that Ms. Kromm followed up with two distinct vomit emojis.
In a different conversation, Pataschnick, the associate dean for student and family support at Columbia, charges an unidentified panelist with taking advantage of the circumstances. “He knows exactly what he’s doing and how to take full advantage of this moment. Huge fundraising potential.” “Double Urgh”, replied Chang-Kim, vice dean and chief administrative officer of Columbia College.
“We are committed to combating antisemitism and taking sustained, concrete action to ensure Columbia is a campus where Jewish students and everyone in our community feels safe, valued, and able to thrive,” a Columbia University spokesperson told The New York Post in response to the announcement that the university officials had been placed on leave.
Ever since the Israel-Hamas war broke out last autumn, Columbia has become the epicenter of a nationwide movement of student protests.
A group of demonstrators took Hamilton Hall in April following weeks of student demonstrations during which they demanded, among other things, that university administration divest from Israel. After a few days, Nemat Shafik, the president of Columbia University, requested that the Police Department vacate the building on the university’s Upper Manhattan campus, leading to several arrests.
