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(AP) — Three deans at Columbia University have resigned after exchanging disparaging texts during a campus discussion about Jewish life and antisemitism, the school confirmed Thursday.
The resignations come a month after Columbia said it had removed the administrators from their positions and would keep them on leave indefinitely. University President Minouche Shafik said in a July 8 letter to the school community that the messages were unprofessional and “disturbingly touched on ancient antisemitic tropes.”
3 Deans @Columbia were fired for their Anti-Semitic texts.
One of them, Matthew Pataschnick, Columbia’s associate dean for student and family support, accused a speaker at a campus antisemitism panel of exploiting the event for its “fundraising potential.”This anti-Semitic is…
— ChiuMeister (@ChiuMeister) August 9, 2024
“Whether intended as such or not, these sentiments are unacceptable and deeply upsetting,” Shafik wrote.
The deans were first put on leave after a conservative news outlet published images of what it said were texts they exchanged while attending a May 31 panel discussion titled “Jewish Life on Campus: Past, Present and Future.”
They have not been identified by Columbia, but their names have circulated widely in media reports.
The panel was held at an annual alumni event a month after university leaders called in police to clear pro-Palestinian protesters from an occupied administration building and dismantle a tent encampment that had threatened to disrupt graduation ceremonies.
Why isn’t the 4th Josef Sorett – Dean of Columbia College – 2nd most important job in the university – fired???? This is outrageous. https://t.co/vN0L6CbnJw
— occasional tourist (@ocasionalturist) August 8, 2024
The Washington Free Beacon obtained some of the private messages through someone who attended the event and took photos of one of the deans’ phones.
Some included snarky comments about people in the university community. One suggested that a panelist speaking about antisemitism planned to use it as a fundraising opportunity. Another disparaged a campus rabbi’s essay about antisemitism.
The administrators have not commented publicly since their exchange became public in June. Two of them — Cristen Kromm, the former dean of undergraduate student life, and Matthew Patashnick, the former associate dean for student and family support — did not immediately respond to phone messages seeking comment. The third, Susan Chang-Kim, could not immediately be reached.
Columbia is a laughing stock. National embarrassment. There dean’s should have been FIRED, not allowed to resign.
— LordBoysenberry (@LordBoysenberry) August 8, 2024
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce has since published some of the messages.
Shafik has promised to launch a “vigorous program of antisemitism and antidiscrimination training for faculty and staff” in the fall, as well as related training for students.
