UPDATE: Columbia prez bungles mask ban and SJP students reportedly knew about Oct. 7: REPORTS
The mask ban was one of several measures made in response to demands by the Trump administration.
A new lawsuit has also alleged that anti-Israel groups at Columbia had insider knowledge of the Oct. 7 massacre before it happened.
Columbia University in New York has been hit with several controversies, as Interim President Karen Armstrong apparently lied about banning masks even as a new lawsuit alleges that anti-Israel groups at the school had known of Hamas’s plans for the Oct. 7 massacre before it occurred.
The Ivy League university agreed on Friday to several measures demanded by the Trump administration as a precondition to potentially restoring $400 million in lost federal dollars.
[RELATED: Anti-Israel activists vandalize home of Columbia president]
As part of the fight against anti-Semitism at the school, Armstrong agreed to boost the security presence on campus, adopt an official definition of anti-Semitism–and forbid protesters from wearing face masks.
But the interim president almost immediately backtracked on the latter promise.
During a weekend meeting with Columbia University professors following the school’s acceptance of President Trump’s demands, Armstrong insisted that a mask ban is not in force, as reported by The Wall Street Journal, which obtained a transcript of Armstrong’s remarks.
Masked protesters on Monday staged a demonstration at Columbia University’s main campus, openly violating the alleged new mask ban agreed to by the school administration.
Anti-Israel protesters have frequently worn masks during the 2024 campus protests.
Proponents of bans on face masks claim that they can be intimidating, and that they encourage disruptive behavior by allowing protesters to anonymously commit vandalism and physically assault others without any repercussions.
A new lawsuit filed on Monday by loved ones of those massacred and kidnapped on Oct. 7 also alleges that anti-Israel organizations like Columbia University Apartheid Divest and Columbia’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter were aware that Hamas was about to execute a terrorist massacre of Jewish civilians before it happened, as The Jerusalem Post reported.
The plaintiffs’ suit claims that the organizations had “prior knowledge of the October 7 attack,” citing, for example, the fact that Columbia’s SJP reportedly turned its Instagram profile active “three minutes before Hamas began its attack on October 7” and published the cryptic message: “Stay tuned,” as the Post related.
Other defendants named in the lawsuit include Columbia-Barnard Jewish Voice for Peace and anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil, whom the Trump administration is currently trying to deport over his role in the anti-Israel protests that took place at Columbia.
Columbia University has repeatedly attracted controversy over its handling of anti-Semitism.
The anti-Israel tent encampment that started at the school in April 2024 inspired nationwide disruptive protests that were often marked by vandalism, violence against Jewish students, and expression of pro-terrorism sentiments.
The Ivy League university has also been widely criticized over its continued employment of Joseph Massad, a professor who praised the Oct. 7 terrorist massacre one day after it occurred, and who has repeatedly made controversial anti-Israel statements since then. The school triggered outrage when it was announced that Massad would be teaching a course on Zionism.
Campus Reform has reached out to Columbia University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
Editor’s note: Following publication of this article, Interim President Katrina Armstrong published an announcement stating: ”Much has been said about Columbia by people inside and outside of our community, sometimes without full context, including statements attributed to me from internal meetings. I regret any confusion and inconsistent statements and want to make sure our position is clear as we go forward. . . . Any suggestion that these measures are illusory, or lack my personal support, is unequivocally false. These changes are real, and they are right for Columbia.”
