The following is an email I sent to Barnard's Alumnae Relations Office (Columbia University) this past Sunday. Links are below:
"Please delete my name and address from your alumnae files.
"Almost 50 years ago, I graduated from Barnard College. Up to the present time, I've been grateful for the education I received and proud of the degree I…
The following is an email I sent to Barnard's Alumnae Relations Office (Columbia University) this past Sunday. Links are below:
"Please delete my name and address from your alumnae files.
"Almost 50 years ago, I graduated from Barnard College. Up to the present time, I've been grateful for the education I received and proud of the degree I earned. However, I'm appalled by the October 30th letter, as reported in the New York Times.
"This letter, signed by over 100 faculty members of Barnard and Columbia, defended students who blamed Israel for Hamas’s barbaric slaughter of over 1,400 women, children, infants, and men.
"The outrage I feel leads me to sever my relationship with Barnard. I regret I ever attended a college whose faculty now spews the hatred of Jews and promotes their eradication from Israel and the rest of the world. I view my time at Barnard as a grave mistake, a blot on my life experience. And I will do my best to actively discourage today's young women from even considering Barnard.
"I'm certain hundreds, if not thousands, of other alumnae feel the way I do, regardless of whether or not they contact your office. In short, you have a public relations nightmare on your hands.
I read about the Egyptian born western educated president of Columbia. Have you seen. The Basement Yousef interview with Piers Morgan ? I had not heard of him before,he is a Cairo born and educated cardiac surgeon who is married to a Palestinian woman. He now does stand up comedy and clearly hates Israel. I tried to understand this dissonance between smart educated Egyptians who refuse to acknowledge that while zisrael is not perfect, it is the ONLY democracy in the Middle East. A full 20 % of its population is Arab. Jews , Christians and Muslims practice openly and freely. Tel Aviv is a hub of LGBT open legal activity. Jews of every color abound. I think that when Jew hatred is inculcated from conception it up is very difficult to eradicate. Egypt herself made peace with Egypt and it has held. I want to believe that it is possible for Palestinians to have their own state and live in peace with Israel. First radical Jew hating Islam will have to be eradicated or at least muted.
I told MIT the same thing 20+ years ago. Instead, I send money to the MIT free-speech Association. I suggest you support similar organizations. Thank you for your courage.
Today I received the following boilerplate response from Barnard's Alumnae Relations Office:. From the noncommital way their email reads, you'd think I was returning a pair of ill-fitting shoes. I have not yet heard anything from Columbia, but I will let you know if and when I do.
Dear Nancy,
Thank you for your feedback. We have noted your request and will update our records accordingly.
I will certainly let everyone know whether or not I received a response.
Ironically when I attended Barnard, a good 30 to 40% of students were Jewish, and mostly from the greater New York City area.
By the way, both Bari and Abigail Shrier attended Columbia College, but decades after my college years. In fact, I just decided I'm going to send copies of my email to the presidents of Barnard College and Columbia University. And I encourage everyone to track down information about their alma maters and fire off angry emails, too.
The following is an email I sent to Barnard's Alumnae Relations Office (Columbia University) this past Sunday. Links are below:
"Please delete my name and address from your alumnae files.
"Almost 50 years ago, I graduated from Barnard College. Up to the present time, I've been grateful for the education I received and proud of the degree I earned. However, I'm appalled by the October 30th letter, as reported in the New York Times.
"This letter, signed by over 100 faculty members of Barnard and Columbia, defended students who blamed Israel for Hamas’s barbaric slaughter of over 1,400 women, children, infants, and men.
"The outrage I feel leads me to sever my relationship with Barnard. I regret I ever attended a college whose faculty now spews the hatred of Jews and promotes their eradication from Israel and the rest of the world. I view my time at Barnard as a grave mistake, a blot on my life experience. And I will do my best to actively discourage today's young women from even considering Barnard.
"I'm certain hundreds, if not thousands, of other alumnae feel the way I do, regardless of whether or not they contact your office. In short, you have a public relations nightmare on your hands.
Thank you for your attention.
https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1cVLg6RTnqd2BTzuouWbfACnFEex7GQeImDZJnMlUReM/mobilebasic?pli=1
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/03/opinion/antisemitism-jews-campus.html
I read about the Egyptian born western educated president of Columbia. Have you seen. The Basement Yousef interview with Piers Morgan ? I had not heard of him before,he is a Cairo born and educated cardiac surgeon who is married to a Palestinian woman. He now does stand up comedy and clearly hates Israel. I tried to understand this dissonance between smart educated Egyptians who refuse to acknowledge that while zisrael is not perfect, it is the ONLY democracy in the Middle East. A full 20 % of its population is Arab. Jews , Christians and Muslims practice openly and freely. Tel Aviv is a hub of LGBT open legal activity. Jews of every color abound. I think that when Jew hatred is inculcated from conception it up is very difficult to eradicate. Egypt herself made peace with Egypt and it has held. I want to believe that it is possible for Palestinians to have their own state and live in peace with Israel. First radical Jew hating Islam will have to be eradicated or at least muted.
Brilliant letter! Thank you for standing up against these evil people.
I told MIT the same thing 20+ years ago. Instead, I send money to the MIT free-speech Association. I suggest you support similar organizations. Thank you for your courage.
I applaud you for making the effort to express your anger at Barnard-Columbia. Please let us know if you receive a response.
Today I received the following boilerplate response from Barnard's Alumnae Relations Office:. From the noncommital way their email reads, you'd think I was returning a pair of ill-fitting shoes. I have not yet heard anything from Columbia, but I will let you know if and when I do.
Dear Nancy,
Thank you for your feedback. We have noted your request and will update our records accordingly.
Best,
Karen Sendler
Executive Director, Alumnae Relations
I just forwarded copies of my email to the presidents of Barnard and Columbia. We'll see what happens.
I will certainly let everyone know whether or not I received a response.
Ironically when I attended Barnard, a good 30 to 40% of students were Jewish, and mostly from the greater New York City area.
By the way, both Bari and Abigail Shrier attended Columbia College, but decades after my college years. In fact, I just decided I'm going to send copies of my email to the presidents of Barnard College and Columbia University. And I encourage everyone to track down information about their alma maters and fire off angry emails, too.