In a letter to the community titled “Our Additional Commitments to Combatting Antisemitism”, President Shipman indicated that “In addition to the existing Title VI antidiscrimination training—which specifically addresses antisemitism and is required of all students, faculty, and staff—we believe that supporting a deeper education on antisemitism is critical. Over the last six months, after extraordinarily thoughtful and often painful conversations with leaders from our own Jewish community, and nationally and internationally, it’s become clear that ongoing educational work will be the most critical and consequential of all our efforts to combat antisemitism. Implementing meaningful educational programs that engage not only our students, but also our faculty and staff, will have the most lasting impact, and they will also take the most time and effort.
To begin, we are initiating programming and training partnerships with several national Jewish organizations including Project Shema, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, and Kalaniyot; we are also exploring a cooperation with Yad Vashem. We hope to engage our community, in many ways, in an ongoing dialogue on the roots of antisemitism and its modern forms. These partnerships are intended to bring our community together and foster a greater understanding of these issues using tools we value at Columbia—education and respectful conversation.”
