13 Federal Judges Refuse to Recruit Columbia University Students Without Action on Protesters and Faculty

Hank BerrienMay 6, 2024

Thirteen federal judges, in a⁢ letter to Columbia University President Minouche Shafik,‍ expressed grave concerns ‌over student disruptions, anti-Semitism, and intolerance on campus. They declared ⁢a refusal to hire ⁢any new members joining Columbia from the class of 2024 onwards, ⁤citing a lack of ⁤confidence in the university as an ‍institution‍ of higher education. The judges‌ urged Columbia to address these issues to ‌restore ⁢its reputation.

In a letter to Columbia University President Minouche Shafik, thirteen federal judges, outraged by what they termed the “explosion of student disruptions, anti-semitism, and hatred for diverse viewpoints on campuses” at the university, declared they would not hire anyone who joins the Columbia University community — whether as undergraduates or law students — beginning with the entering class of 2024.”

“As judges who hire law clerks every year to serve in the federal judiciary, we have lost confidence in Columbia as an institution of higher education. Columbia has instead become an incubator of bigotry,” the judges stated.

The judges asserted that if the university were truly serious about restoring its once fabled reputation, it would implement “serious consequences for students and faculty who have participated in campus disruptions and violated established rules concerning the use of university facilities and public spaces and threats against fellow members of the university community.”

“Universities should also identify students who engage in such conduct so that future employers can avoid hiring them,” they wrote. “If not, employers are forced to assume the risk that anyone they hire from Columbia may be one of these disruptive and hateful students.”

“Speech is not violence, and violence is not speech,” they continued. “Universities that are serious about academic freedom understand the difference, and they enforce the rules accordingly. It has become clear that Columbia applies double standards when it comes to free speech and student misconduct. If Columbia had been faced with a campus uprising of religious conservatives upset because they view abortion as a tragic genocide, we have no doubt that the university’s response would have been profoundly different.”

“Recent events demonstrate that ideological homogeneity throughout the entire institution of Columbia has destroyed its ability to train future leaders of a pluralistic and intellectually diverse country,” they contended, “Both professors and administrators are on the front lines of the campus disruptions, encouraging the virulent spread of antisemitism and bigotry. Significant and dramatic change in the composition of its faculty and administration is required to restore confidence in Columbia.”