Columbia alumnus lays into alma mater over response to 'appalling' anti-Israel protests: ‘Lack of leadership’

A Columbia University alumnus criticized his alma mater during a demonstration at the Ivy League and suggested that requests by Jewish students have "fallen on deaf ears" while anti-Israel protesters continue to flood the campus.

"I think that I’ve had a lot of friends that were attacked," Yahel Kaplan, an Israeli man who graduated from the university, told Fox News Digital. "I think the fact that the administration has changed three times now shows that there is a complete lack of leadership in Columbia University with respect to the plight of the Jews and the Israelis that are suffering."

Kaplan said that Columbia should have done more to prevent violent and aggressive voices and activities, calling the actions of anti-Israel protesters "appalling."

Columbia University donations at its annual fundraiser fell almost 29% following a slew of anti-Israel protests on its campus earlier this year. Amid an ongoing donor crisis, the school also saw a 27.9% drop in the number of gifts — the lowest since 2015.

‘FEELING THREATENED’: JEWISH STUDENTS AT NEW YORK PROTESTS SPEAK AGAINST ANTISEMITISM, REFLECT ON OCT. 7

A Columbia alumni at a pro-Israeli October 7 commemoration voiced his frustrations with the Ivy League university. (Fox News)

Muira, a Jewish woman from Manhattan who visited Columbia University on the October 7 anniversary, said she was "sorry" the school hasn’t lost more money.

She also took issue with the actions of interim university President Katrina Armstrong, who apologized in September to protesters who were "hurt" by the New York Police Department (NYPD) as they attempted to clear agitators on campus late last semester.

"There’s been no change in Columbia. The problem with Columbia right now is Columbia," Muira told Fox News Digital. 

Armstrong became interim president of the elite school after Minouche Shafik stepped down as president amid ongoing condemnation of her handling of campus protests last year that often turned violent.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a Columbia spokesperson said, "As Interim President Armstrong’s statements and actions since assuming her current role in August make clear, she and the University are directly addressing antisemitism and discrimination, which is antithetical to our values and has no place at the University."

Protesters flooded college campuses nationwide last school year to protest the war in Israel, which also included spiking instances of antisemitism and Jewish students publicly speaking out that they don't feel safe on some campuses.

AS OCTOBER 7TH ANNIVERSARY APPROACHES, JEWISH STUDENTS BRACE FOR PROTESTS, VOW TO ‘WALK PROUDLY’

A small group of pro-Israel demonstrators and counterprotesters gather in front of Columbia University on August 27, 2024, to hold an "Unmask Campus Hate" protest at the start of the academic year in New York City.  (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

University of Pittsburgh student Racheli told Fox News Digital that the protests on Columbia University's campus in particular has led some of her Jewish friends to seek out accelerated degree programs so they can leave the Ivy League school early. 

Last week, Columbia University's President's Office, Provost and Executive Committee of the Senate released an update condemning calls for violence on campus.

Columbia University, Barnard College and Teachers College previously created The Columbia Task Force on Antisemitism to address the "harmful impact of antisemitism and ensure that protection, respect and belonging extends to everyone." The Task Force has released two reports.

President Armstrong commented on the second one, saying, "This is an opportunity to acknowledge the harm that has been done and to pledge to make the changes necessary to do better and to rededicate ourselves, as University leaders, as individuals, and as a community, to our core mission of teaching and research."

In September, the Office of Institutional Equity released an updated Anti-Discrimination and Discriminatory Harassment Policy.

Agitators and pro-Hamas demonstrators stormed the university's Hamilton Hall at the end of April, occupying the building for nearly 24 hours before members of the NYPD were granted permission by the university to take it back from the protesters. The officers were overwhelmingly dressed in riot gear to carry out the operation, and "used electric saws, stun grenades, and other tactical gear to sweep" the building, according to the student newspaper's report.

During the widespread campus protests last school year, the NYPD also swept a tent encampment housing the protesters, which was dubbed the "Gaza Solidarity Encampment," before the university dismantled the encampment in May.

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Fox News' Emma Colton contributed to this report.