In a stunning rebuke of Columbia University’s handling of antisemitism on campus, renowned Holocaust historian and former U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt has publicly withdrawn from consideration for a teaching position at the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies. Lipstadt, whose life’s work has been dedicated to preserving the truth of the Holocaust and combating antisemitism, declared her decision in a searing op-ed in The Free Press on Sunday, citing a toxic and hostile campus climate that she believes has been enabled by weak university leadership.
Lipstadt had been in discussions to teach a course on the history of the Holocaust and antisemitism at Columbia. But recent pro-Palestinian protests, student disruptions, and administrative responses—or lack thereof—left her deeply concerned about the university’s ability to protect academic freedom and Jewish students.
On January 21, demonstrators stormed a History of Modern Israel class, distributing inflammatory flyers depicting a boot stomping on the Star of David with the words “Crush Zionism.” Weeks later, a sit-in at Barnard College’s Milbank Hall on February 26 saw dozens of students protesting the expulsion of two classmates who had been involved in the disruption. The unrest escalated, with another round of protests outside Barnard on February 27, further pressuring administrators to reinstate the expelled students.
Then, on March 3, Barnard expelled a third student for participating in the occupation of Hamilton Hall during an April protest. The series of clashes have raised serious questions about whether Columbia and Barnard are enforcing their own policies—or capitulating to mob pressure.
Lipstadt, in her op-ed, accused Columbia’s leadership of failing to uphold academic principles and allowing intimidation to fester on campus.
“I feared that my presence … would be a stop, a cover for problems,” she told The Columbia Spectator, making it clear that she would not be used as a symbolic shield while deeper issues remained unaddressed.
Her concerns were not just ideological but also personal. Lipstadt revealed that she feared for her safety and doubted whether she could teach on campus without facing harassment.
“I do not flinch in the face of threats,” she wrote. “But this is not a healthy or acceptable learning environment.”
Initially, Lipstadt had been “pleased and surprised” by Barnard College President Laura Rosenbury’s decision to expel the two students involved in the classroom attack. However, her confidence quickly crumbled when she witnessed Barnard’s handling of the Milbank sit-in, where faculty members negotiated with the protesters instead of enforcing the rules.
“Watching Barnard capitulate to mob violence and fail to enforce its own rules and regulations led me to conclude that I could not go to Columbia University, even for a single semester,” Lipstadt wrote.
She warned that the consequences of this weakness extend far beyond Columbia.
“On too many university campuses, the inmates—and these may include administrators, student disrupters, and off-campus agitators as well as faculty members—are running the asylum,” she declared. “They are turning universities into parodies of true academic inquiry.”
Lipstadt’s resignation from consideration triggered a response from Columbia’s interim President Katrina Armstrong, who reportedly reached out to Lipstadt personally to discuss efforts to combat antisemitism on campus. The university published a statement on Sunday emphasizing its commitment to expanding Holocaust education and deepening understanding of antisemitism.
“Recruiting expert voices to expand students’ access and ability to deepen their learning and engagement on the study of the Holocaust and understanding antisemitism is an important part of the University’s approach to combating antisemitism,” the statement read.
But for Lipstadt, Columbia’s response was too little, too late.
“Though I recognize that Columbia and Barnard are administratively two separate institutions, in the eyes of the public, they are intimately connected,” she said. “Given the number of incidents both on Columbia campus and now on Barnard campus, I just felt this was not the moment for me to come and teach at the school.”
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This linked opinion piece by Jonathan Tobin of JNS is a must-read. As honorable a person a Ms. Lipstadt is, she dropped the ball in her position in the Biden administration when she could have really done something.
https://www.jns.org/betrayal-lipstadts-silence-about-campus-jew-hatred-under-the-biden-administration/