NYC Jewish high school says no graduates will attend Columbia College for the first time in years
For the first time in more than two decades, none of the graduating seniors who attended the Ramaz School, a Jewish school in New York City, will attend Columbia College.
'For the first time in over 20 years, we will not have a Ramaz graduate enrolling in Columbia College,' Ramaz told The New York Post.
For the first time in more than two decades, none of the graduating seniors who attended the Ramaz School, a Jewish school in New York City, will attend Columbia College.
“For the first time in over 20 years, we will not have a Ramaz graduate enrolling in Columbia College,” Ramaz told The New York Post. The school, which was founded in 1937, is one of the oldest Jewish day schools in North America.
One Ramaz student will attend Columbia’s School of General Studies and three will attend Barnard College, which is affiliated with Columbia, but none have enrolled in the university’s undergraduate liberal arts college.
A representative for Ramaz told the Post that it informs its students about ongoing events at colleges, including the “horrific rise” in anti-Semitism that some schools have experienced since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack against Israel.
“Ramaz provides as much information as possible about the situation at various colleges of interest,” the representative explained, “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.”
Campus Reform has previously reported about a 1,000 percent increase in anti-Semitism following Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre of Jewish civilians. Between Oct. 7 and Dec. 7, 2023, the Anti-Defamation League recorded 400 anti-Semitic incidents on college campuses, compared to 33 such incidents the year before.
Rory Lancman, a civil rights activist whose children attended Ramaz, has publicly described the concerns of Jewish students about attending universities that failed to adequately address anti-Semitism on their campuses during the anti-Israel encampments.
“Jewish families are voting with their feet and choosing colleges and universities that take antisemitism seriously,” Lancman described. “I would not recommend my daughters to apply to Columbia or other colleges that aren’t committed to protect them as Jews.”
In April, Jewish students near the Columbia pro-Hamas encampment were allegedly told to “go back to Europe” and “go back to Poland.” Protesters also reportedly yelled in Arabic, “Oh Hamas, oh loved one, hit/strike Tel Aviv.”
Campus Reform has contacted Columbia University and the Ramaz School for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
