Combatting Antisemitism

Under Interim President Armstrong’s leadership, Columbia University has undertaken a multipronged approach to combat antisemitism, through increasing clarity and education around University rules, appointing a new Rules Administrator, establishing a centralized Office of Institutional Equity to swiftly address reports of antisemitism, discrimination and harassment, strengthening the capabilities and resources of the University’s Public Safety team, and acting to quickly condemn and investigate recent incidents of vandalism, antisemitic imagery, and classroom disruption.

The following is a comprehensive overview of the ongoing efforts taking place at Columbia to combat antisemitism and nurture a campus environment that is welcoming to all students and free from harassment and discrimination.

Addressing Antisemitism at Columbia University

Columbia has initiated a comprehensive strategy to address antisemitism, grounded in the belief that the University’s mission depends on an environment free of harassment and discrimination. The University’s efforts are guided by the recommendations of faculty, students, staff and other members of our community as well as best practices suggested by nationally recognized Jewish organizations.

Public Safety

The University added more Public Safety officers, increasing the size of the Public Safety force by 117 full-time employees in the past sixteen months (approximately 24% larger than the Public Safety force in October 2023) and its visible presence on campus.
Increased staffing enabled Public Safety to conduct more frequent patrols on campus including round-the-clock monitoring of the University’s perimeter, critical infrastructure, and facilities.
The University provided additional Public Safety coverage at the Kraft Center for Jewish Student Life, the International Affairs Building, and patrols on campus and in various buildings.
To help ensure that its efforts to augment the Public Safety department have a sustained effect, the University increased its investment in recruiting, training, and workforce development for all Public Safety officers and individuals who act as delegates under the Rules of University Conduct. The trainings included a training on interacting with student populations, the enforcement of the University’s Rules, and peace officer training, which covered crowd management, crisis management and negotiation, and strengthened rapid response capabilities.
Public Safety installed upgraded cameras to existing monitoring systems to assist in the identification of those engaging in unsanctioned conduct. The University installed cameras in critical, more public areas. The school monitors cameras around-the-clock. Public Safety investigators review the camera footage to assist in the identification process for any conduct matters.
Columbia has continued to restrict access to the Morningside campus to individuals with Columbia IDs, and it has instituted mandatory ID checks at all access points.
The University operates a 24/7 vehicle and walking escort program.
Public Safety created an incident management center, which has been critical in monitoring protest situations and verifying access at the gates, and Public Safety formed response teams for each shift for immediate response to disruptions or other activity.
Public Safety reviews several social media monitoring platforms to gather information on potential demonstration activity.
- The University partnered with law enforcement and others to monitor social media and gather intelligence on potential disruptions for increased Public Safety preparation and response times.
The University is committed to best practices and continuous improvement of the safety culture on campus and has dedicated new resources intended to ensure that members of the Columbia community can provide feedback on potential safety issues.

Modifications to the Disciplinary Processes

Under the new leadership, the University reviewed existing University policies to identify necessary updates and implementation challenges. As a part of the reassessment, the University sought to identify key improvements in the discipline process and determine best practices and strategies to minimize response times and efficiencies. As a result of this review, this fall Columbia implemented many changes across Columbia’s core disciplinary processes that enforce the University’s Rules and policies for students, faculty, and staff. For example, Columbia strengthened its complaint and disciplinary processes in an effort to ensure that the processes are enforced on a timely basis, and it increased and improved the transparency and communications to the University community about those processes. Columbia’s disciplinary processes function faster and better than it did before.

Office of Institutional Equity

Columbia redesigned the University’s framework, protocols, and organization for handling antidiscrimination, and harassment issues, including alleged violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which encompasses issues of antisemitism.
Columbia’s new Office of Institutional Equity serves as the central resource and department for reviewing discrimination complaints, regardless of whether the incident involves students, faculty, or staff.
The Office of Institutional Equity seeks to ensure that reports are handled in a fair, efficient, and timely manner for all parties involved.
To encourage reporting and streamline processes for complaint handling, Columbia simplified the online reporting process and created a new “one-click” method to file a complaint from all Columbia websites, including the Office of Institutional Equity’s website.
The University provided a team of fifty-seven full-time employees—including full-time professional investigators—more than double the previous staff dedicated to handling these issues.
The increase in personnel has enabled the Office to enhance case resolution efficiency, expand training opportunities, and improve data-driven decision-making to inform policy.
The Office of Institutional Equity also substantially revised the University’s antidiscrimination and discriminatory harassment policy for students and groups, and clarified the application of the policy to scenarios that Columbia has encountered over the past two years, including that antizionism can be antisemitism.
The Office of Institutional Equity’s new website consolidates information on key changes and includes content across all disciplinary divisions in one place.

Rules of University Conduct

The Rules of University Conduct govern conduct related to or occurring at demonstrations and protests. The University Judicial Board, which is part of the University Senate, is responsible for adjudications and sanctions for violations of the Rules. Each University Judicial Board matter is overseen by a panel of five members of the community. These panelists include faculty, students, and staff that are selected by the University Senate. Each panel is uniquely composed for an individual matter. In the event of any conflicts of interest, a panelist may be replaced with another individual selected by the Senate.
Historically, the Rules of University Conduct process handled few cases. Recent events on campus led to a substantial increase in the number of cases, and as a result, the University supplemented resources for the Office of the Rules Administrator to enable efficient disposition of matters. This process is overseen by a new Rules Administrator, who has a team of full-time staff (with active hiring taking place for more employees) that make determinations about potential violations.
The Rules Administrator has primary responsibility for investigating complaints, filing charges, and presenting evidence in support of charges to the Rules of University Conduct hearing panels. These bolstered resources enable the Rules Administrator to investigate and pursue potential Rules violations fully.
The Rules process has adopted new procedures designed to ensure that documents and materials are stored on a centralized database for more efficient record-keeping and student follow-up.
During protests, the University uses trained Delegates—members of the University community who choose to be trained for such a role—to enforce the Rules.
In partnership with University Life, the Rules Administrator expanded the delegate pool and enhanced Delegate training to improve on-the-ground management of protest and demonstration activities and minimize disruptions.

Center for Student Success and Intervention

Columbia has added staff members to the Center for Student Success and Intervention and that office has returned to its original purpose of assessing potential violations of academic standards or student conduct policies and imposing Dean’s Discipline.
The University appointed new leadership focused on strengthening and improving processes for investigating reports of student misconduct through the Center.

Communication on Discipline and Conduct Expectations

The University has expanded its public affairs capabilities to respond rapidly to events and issues as they arise, quickly posting statements regarding these matters on Columbia’s website and using social media and internal channels to disseminate statements widely. When prohibited conduct is occurring, the University endeavors to alert the campus community quickly and outline the specific consequences for participation.
When the University has been made aware of antisemitic rhetoric or actions, we have promptly condemned that conduct and restated our commitment to a community free of harassment and discrimination.

Education and Community Building

Columbia launched its Campus Climate Collaborative, which facilitates small discussions between students and their respective schools and creates opportunities for student groups to meet with President Armstrong and senior leaders. As part of the Collaborative, students and leaders discuss current opportunities and challenges and develop a set of ideas to strengthen Columbia’s ability to deliver on its mission.
The University required its community to complete training on Columbia’s commitment to protecting fairness and equal opportunity for all on campus. 32,243 faculty/staff, contractors and other affiliates have completed the Title VI mandatory training. On February 13, 2025, all students were assigned a mandatory training module on the Discrimination and Discriminatory Harassment Policy and Procedures for Students and Student Groups. To date, 5,232 students have completed the mandatory training, which is due by March 24, 2025.