Columbia University suspends three deans for 'antisemitism' in private text messages

Columbia University has suspended three administrators, saying that they exchanged antisemitic text messages during a seminar on Jewish campus life in May.

In a letter released on Monday, Nemat Shafik, Columbia's president, said the administrators “disturbingly touched on ancient antisemitic tropes”.

"Whether intended as such or not, these sentiments are unacceptable and deeply upsetting, conveying a lack of seriousness about the concerns and the experiences of members of our Jewish community,” Shafik wrote.

The suspension came after conservative news outlet, The Washington Free Beacon, leaked photographs of the three deans’ text exchanges which included one dean using two vomit emojis in response to a reference to an article published in the Columbia student newspaper by Yonah Hain, the campus rabbi, about students’ response to 7 October.

Read more: Columbia University suspends three deans for 'antisemitism' in private text messages