Elite Jewish High School Graduates Shun Columbia Amid Protest Turmoil

Columbia University has been hit by waves of protests over the Israel-Hamas war.

No students of a prominent Jewish high school in New York will attend Columbia College, according to a report in New York Post. The Ramaz School, located in Upper East Side, told the Post that it will happen for the first time in 20 years that none of the school’s graduate will enrol in Columbia College. However, one Ramaz student took admission in Columbia’s school of General Studies, and three in Columbia-affiliated Barnard College for women, but none at the college, said the Post report.

Ramaz cited anti-Israel protests and hostility toward Jewish students at Columbia as influencing their students’ decisions.

“Ramaz provides as much information as possible about the situation at various colleges of interest, and we have given priority to issues surrounding the horrific rise in antisemitic instances at some schools, so that our students and their families are able to make informed decisions about which colleges are right for them,” a Ramaz representative told the Post.

Columbia has not made any comment on the development so far.

The Ivy League college has been hit by waves of protests since Hamas’ October 7, 2023 invasion of Israel. Not just Columbia, the anti-war protest movement that spanned the United States ignited heated debate about Washington’s support for Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.

Last week, British-American economist Minouche Shafik resigned as the president of Columbia University citing the toll taken by a “period of turmoil” after she faced scrutiny for her handling of demonstrations over the Israel-Hamas war.

She is the fourth president of an Ivy League university to step down in the wake of these protests.

Pro-Palestinan protesters had set up encampments on Columbia’s campus in April while Ms Shafik testified at a House committee investigating anti-Semitism.

Protesters – many who were themselves Jewish – said anti-Israel views were being conflated with anti-Semitism and that individual allegations of hate incidents were being used to distract from calls for a ceasefire.

Columbia called in New York police to forcibly evict students occupying a building at the end of April, and cancelled its main commencement ceremony in May.