WASHINGTON – Three Columbia University deans, who engaged in what the school’s administration called troubling text message exchanges that touched on “ancient anti-Semitic tropes”, have resigned, a university spokesperson said late on Aug 8.

       Ms Cristen Kromm, former dean of undergraduate student life; Mr Matthew Patashnick, former associate dean for student and family support; and Ms Susan Chang-Kim, former vice-dean and chief administrative officer, were earlier placed on leave as an investigation proceeded.

       The message exchanges took place during an event on campus titled Jewish Life On Campus: Past, Present And Future and followed weeks of protests at Columbia and other campuses around the US over Israel’s war in Gaza, the university administration said in July.

       The New York Times said the trio had sent the biting and sarcastic messages as they reacted in real time to Jewish speakers expressing concern about anti-Semitism on campus during the two-hour event.

       In June, university president Minouche Shafik placed the three deans on indefinite leave as an investigation proceeded.

       In the texts, one dean suggested that a Jewish speaker was playing up concerns for fund-raising purposes. Another sent vomit emojis in reaction to the mention of a college newspaper opinion piece written by one of the school’s rabbis.

       “This incident revealed behaviour and sentiments that were not only unprofessional, but also disturbingly touched on ancient anti-Semitic tropes,” the university said in July.

       The three deans who resigned could not be contacted. The university spokesperson who confirmed their resignations did not provide further details.

       The episode, which became public in June when an attendee shared her pictures of one of the dean’s cellphones with The Washington Free Beacon, has been deeply embarrassing to the administration. University leaders have been trying to convince Congress, alumni and its own Jewish students that it takes anti-Semitism on campus seriously.

       The turmoil over a scandal some alumni are calling “textgate” comes as Dr Shafik and other administrators prepare for how they will respond to what they expect will be another powerful wave of pro-Palestinian activism in the fall.

       In a sign of the university’s challenges, pro-Palestinian vandals attacked the Brooklyn Heights apartment building of the university’s chief operating officer, Mr Cas Holloway, early on the morning of Aug 8, splashing red paint on the floor and releasing insects into the lobby, police said.

       The three deans who resigned were not faculty members and did not have tenured protections.

       The dean of Columbia College, Dr Josef Sorett, also participated in the text exchanges, though to a lesser extent. After the incident, he sent an apology note to the community.

       Dr Sorett, a scholar on religion and race, is a tenured professor, which gives him protections that make it harder to remove him from the faculty. He will continue in his position.

       The United States has seen months of protests over US support for Israel’s war in Gaza that has killed about 40,000 Palestinians, according to the local Health Ministry, while also displacing nearly the entire population of 2.3 million and causing a hunger crisis.

       The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct 7 when Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which governed Gaza, attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

       Israel’s assault on Gaza has also led to genocide allegations at the World Court. Israel denies those allegations and in turn accuses Hamas of seeking genocide against Israel.

       Campus demonstrators have demanded an end to the war, a halt to US military support for Israel and a divestment by universities in companies that support Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.

       There have been allegations of anti-Semitic and Islamophobic rhetoric in some protests and counter-protests.

       Columbia itself became a centre of protests where students set up encampments and police made violent arrests. REUTERS, NYTIMES