Barnard College, which has a partnership with Columbia University, expelled two anti-Israel student protesters, who disrupted a modern Israeli history class at Columbia University in January, according to the anti-Israel student group Apartheid Divest.
Laura Rosenbury, the president of Barnard, told JNS that “under federal law, we cannot comment on the academic and disciplinary records of students.”
“That said, as a matter of principle and policy, Barnard will always take decisive action to protect our community as a place where learning thrives, individuals feel safe and higher education is celebrated,” she said. “This means upholding the highest standards and acting when those standards are threatened.”
“When rules are broken, when there is no remorse, no reflection and no willingness to change, we must act,” the Barnard president added. “Expulsion is always an extraordinary measure, but so, too, is our commitment to respect, inclusion and the integrity of the academic experience.”
Brian Cohen, the executive director of the Columbia Barnard Hillel, praised Barnard for taking disciplinary action against the protesters.
“When students have their right to get an education trampled on by masked protesters, who burst into their classroom, those protestors need to be held accountable,” Cohen told JNS. “We applaud Barnard College for taking decisive action and hope Columbia follows suit with the other perpetrators, who have infringed on student rights in the past year—from the encampments to the takeover of Hamilton Hall.”
“This will send a clear message that the harassment of Jewish students and faculty will not be tolerated at Columbia,” Cohen added.
On the first day of the new semester in January, about half a dozen anti-Israel student activists disrupted a modern Israeli history class at Columbia University taught by Avi Shilon. The professor, who is Israeli, lectures at the university’s Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies.
“We are pleased to see that two anti-Israel protesters who disrupted a course at Barnard titled ‘history of modern Israel’ and handed out fliers that read ‘crush Zionism,’ were reportedly expelled,” stated the New York and New Jersey office of the Anti-Defamation League.
“Disrupting a class and handing out these posters fosters a hostile environment for Jews and Israelis on campus. Thank you, Barnard, for responding and upholding your code of conduct,” the ADL added.
