Latest news with #ColumbiaUniversity-affiliated
New York Post
31-07-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Columbia sister school Barnard College lays off dozens of employees weeks after antisemitism suit settlement
Barnard College has made a 'painful' announcement that it will lay off nearly 80 full-time employees as part of a 'college-wide staff restructuring,' school officials said Thursday. The layoffs come about three weeks after Barnard leaders agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by Jewish students claiming the Columbia University-affiliated school failed to properly address campus antisemitism. 3 Students from Barnard College and sister school Columbia University would often participate in disruptive and, at times, violent protests on each other's campuses in the wake of Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Robert Miller 'As part of a one-time, college-wide restructuring, we've made the hard but necessary decision to eliminate multiple staff positions across departments,' Barnard President Laura Rosenbury wrote in a letter on the college's website. In all, 77 staff members were culled, none of them faculty or from instructional services. 'This restructuring is part of our broader strategy to ensure Barnard remains strong, focused, and fully prepared to meet the needs of our community and the evolving landscape of higher education.' The all-women's school was facing a $252 million debt crunch at the end of fiscal year 2024, and a ballooning deficit that had doubled over the past decade. To dig itself out, Barnard implemented several belt-tightening measures, including contributing less to staff and faculty benefits, introducing limits on business and travel expenses and the elimination of 40 unfilled staff positions, the Columbia Spectator wrote at the time. 3 Around three weeks after Barnard College settled a discrimination lawsuit filed by Jewish students, the elite all-women's college said it would lay off 77 staff members. AFP via Getty Images As part of the settlement agreement earlier this month, the college agreed to several sweeping changes, including prohibiting masks, no longer engaging with the anti-Israel student protest group Columbia University Apartheid Divest and establishing a dedicated Title VI coordinator to oversee compliance with antidiscrimination laws, officials said. 'Antisemitism, discrimination, and harassment in any form are antithetical to the values Barnard College champions,' Rosenbury said in a statement when the settlement was announced. Barnard had been the site of numerous virulent anti-Israel student protests, including the takeover of the campus' Milstein Library by about 200 people, most of them hiding their identities with keffiyeh headscarves. 3 In March, some 200 students staged a takeover of Barnard College's Milstein Library, clashing with cops and chanting anti-Israel slogans. Nine students were arrested. James Keivom Nine students were arrested after the takeover, which included a fake bomb threat, and was inspired by the January expulsion of two Barnard students who were booted from the elite school after barging into a 'History of Modern Israel' class at nearby Columbia and distributing antisemitic literature. A little more than a week ago, Columbia University paid out more than $220 million and pledged to reverse racially discriminatory practices and resolve civil rights violations against Jewish students and employees. The settlement ensured some $400 million that the Trump administration pulled from the university in March would be restored, which a source familiar with the negotiations told The Post would have snowballed to affect billions in university research grants and other funding absent an agreement. A Barnard College spokesperson directed The Post to Rosenbury's letter when reached for comment.
Al Arabiya
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Barnard College Expels Two Students Over Pro-Palestinian Protests
Columbia University-affiliated Barnard College has expelled two students over pro-Palestinian protests, marking what an activist group called the first official expulsion on campus over the Israel-Gaza war. The college described the action as a consequence of unsanctioned classroom disruption. Columbia University Apartheid Divest (C UAD) condemned the expulsions as a 'serious escalation in the crackdown against students advocating for disinvestment from the Israeli war machine.' The university said a 'History of Modern Israel' class last month was disrupted by protesters distributing fliers that included 'violent imagery.' On Monday, the university stated it had referred two participants in the protest, who were from an affiliated institution, to their home institution for discipline and barred them from campus. 'Expulsion is always an extraordinary measure, but so too is our commitment to respect, inclusion, and the integrity of the academic experience,' Barnard College said. Israel's military assault on Gaza following Hamas' October 2023 attack has led to months of protests across the US, with demonstrators calling for an end to Washington's support for Israel.
