For the first time in over two decades, no graduates from Ramaz, an elite Jewish high school on New York's Upper East Side, will be attending Columbia College this fall, The New York Post reported Sunday. The school cited rising antisemitism on campus as a contributing factor to this unprecedented shift.
According to a statement provided to The New York Post by Ramaz, "For the first time in over 20 years, we will not have a Ramaz graduate enrolling in Columbia College." The school noted that while one student enrolled in Columbia's School of General Studies and three in the Columbia-affiliated Barnard College, none chose to attend Columbia College itself.
Ramaz indicated that anti-Israel protests and hostility toward Jewish students at Columbia during the previous semester played a role in its graduates' 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 school representative told The New York Post.
Rory Lancman, a prominent Jewish civil rights activist and Columbia Law School graduate, expressed his concerns about the current climate at Columbia. "Jewish families are voting with their feet and choosing colleges and universities that take antisemitism seriously," said Lancman, who serves as the director of corporate initiatives and senior counsel at the Louis Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law. He added, "I would not recommend my daughters to apply to Columbia or other colleges that aren't committed to protect them as Jews."
The Ivy League institution has been grappling with significant turmoil in recent months. Columbia President Minouche Shafik recently resigned after leading the university for just one year, a period marked by constant and sometimes destructive anti-Israel protests. Her resignation followed closely on the heels of three university deans stepping down after the exposure of a "very troubling" text chain that disparaged Israeli and Jewish students' concerns about rising antisemitism on campus.
In April, a large group of masked protesters broke into a Columbia academic building, seizing control and draping it with a giant flag calling for "intifada." Video footage captured a demonstrator using a hammer to break through a glass-paneled door and securing it with what appeared to be a bike lock.
Hundreds of students were arrested on trespassing charges for refusing to dismantle a campus encampment, which triggered the building takeover. However, many of those involved in vandalism, rioting, and trespassing subsequently avoided criminal charges.
The protests and anti-Israel sentiment were fueled by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel, in which terrorists killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took over 240 hostages. As of Aug. 19, 115 Israelis remain held hostage, of whom 41 have been declared dead, having either been killed in the massacre or in captivity.
Columbia University declined to comment when contacted by The New York Post regarding the Ramaz situation.
