Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania announced their respective task forces Wednesday to combat anti-Semitism.
Though the creation of these bodies follows Harvard University’s decision to establish a similar advisory board, these action items were not the Ivy League schools’ first reaction to the spread of public Jew hatred on campus.
On Oct. 24, Campus Reform reported that Harvard created a new task force to help students who publicly supported Hamas. It took approximately a week for the Cambridge, Massachusetts, institution to come up with the same idea for Jewish students, who have faced intimidation and assault on campus.
In an ode to the “All Lives Matter” sentiment that the left disdained during the Trump administration, the University of Pennsylvania used its announcement to also focus attention on Islamophobia.
Using persecution against Jews as an opportunity to talk about Muslims echoes recent messaging from the White House, which announced a new “strategy” to combat Islamophobia. This news came only days after Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre answered a reporter’s question about rising anti-Semitism with her thoughts on anti-Arab sentiment.
Columbia University’s statement on its task force reads, “We are taking this step as part of a commitment to ensuring that our campuses are safe, welcoming, and inclusive for Jewish students, faculty, and staff, and all of us.”
Two weeks prior to this statement, the New York City school refused to take action on Professor Joseph Massad who called the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks “awesome.”
Campus Reform interviewed Columbia Assistant Professor Shai Davidai last month. Davidai said that the university had done “nothing” to keep Jews like him safe on campus.
With this task force, doing something appears to represent a policy change from doing “nothing.”
Originally published by Campus Reform. Republished with permission.
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