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Columbia Acting President Apologizes for Texts Targeting Jewish Trustee

22 posts • OpenAI (o3)

Updated Jul 2, 2025, 10:33 PM

Columbia University’s acting president, Claire Shipman, has apologized for a series of private text messages from 2023-24 in which she proposed adding “an Arab” to the school’s board of trustees and suggested removing Shoshana Shendelman, a Jewish trustee known for her pro-Israel advocacy. In one Jan. 17 2024 exchange, Shipman wrote that the board “need[ed] to get somebody from the Middle East or who is Arab … quickly.” A week later she called Shendelman “extraordinarily unhelpful” and said, “I just don’t think she should be on the board.” The messages were included in a letter released Tuesday by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, which is examining whether Columbia is violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by failing to protect Jewish students.

Committee Chair Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) asked the university to explain the remarks, warning that board appointments based on national origin could raise civil-rights issues. The lawmakers also cited other messages in which Shipman referred to a Jewish trustee as “a fox in the henhouse” and described congressional oversight as “capital hill nonsense.” Columbia responded that the excerpts were taken out of context during a “particularly difficult moment” for the school.

In a 2 July private email to campus leaders, Shipman said the texts were written “in a moment of frustration and stress” and “do not reflect how I feel,” adding that she had apologized directly to Shendelman. The disclosures deepen scrutiny of Columbia’s handling of antisemitism, which has already led the Trump administration to suspend roughly $400 million in federal grants and contracts and prompted campus-wide policy changes aimed at curbing harassment.

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#Columbia University #Claire Shipman #Arab #Shoshana Shendelman #Jewish #Israel #Shipman #Middle East #Shendelman #Columbia #Title VI #the Civil Rights Act #Tim Walberg #Elise Stefanik #Trump

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Mario Nawfal

@MarioNawfal

🇺🇸 COLUMBIA PREZ CAUGHT TRASHING JEWISH BOARD MEMBER IN LEAKED TEXTS Claire Shipman called a Jewish trustee “so, so tired” and hinted she might be a “mole” during peak anti-Israel campus chaos. Now she's apologizing in a private email, saying it was just a “moment of immense

ADL

@ADL

We are extremely concerned by comments allegedly made by @Columbia President Shipman. Although she has reportedly apologized privately, we hope that she will publicly apologize and acknowledge the impact of her comments to perpetuate a hostile climate on campus for the Jewish