Columbia University said in July 2025 that it has “zero tolerance” for the group self-identifies as Columbia University Apartheid Divest. It reiterated that on Sunday, after the group posted “death to America” after the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.
The social media handle, which X flags as a “commentary” account, deleted the post and said it had been required to do so to access its account, but that the “sentiment still stands.”
Virginia Lam Abrams, senior vice president of communications at Columbia, told JNS that the group is “unaffiliated” with the school.
The university said on Sunday that the account’s post was “deeply troubling” and used “unequivocally reprehensible language.”
“We are exploring additional legal avenues to prevent their continued unauthorized use of the university’s name,” it said.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Fla.) posted a screenshot of the deleted post. “Any foreign student tweeting ‘death to America’ should be deported immediately,” he stated.
The account posted a “friendly reminder that CUAD has no affiliation to or ties with the fascist state functionary known as Columbia University.”
“We operate completely outside of the purview of a registered student organization and are proud to not receive any recognition from that institution,” it said.
A group by the same name is reportedly linked to Mahmoud Khalil, an anti-Israel former student leader at Columbia, although it wasn’t clear if the group and the social media handle are connected.
