Ambassador Deborah E. Lipstadt is a foremost expert on the Holocaust and modern antisemitism. Her extraordinary experience and distinguished career inspired a faculty member from Columbia’s Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies (IIJS) to informally invite Ambassador Lipstadt to consider teaching a course at Columbia on the history of the Holocaust and antisemitism.
When Ambassador Lipstadt signaled her intention not to continue this conversation, Interim Columbia President Armstrong reached out to personally engage her and share her personal commitment to combating antisemitism. Recruiting expert voices to expand students’ access and ability to deepen their learning and engagement on the study of the Holocaust and understanding antisemitism is an important part of the University’s approach to combating antisemitism. Engaging and embracing diverse viewpoints in a fact-based and respectful manner is a core part of what makes Columbia a unique institution of learning and investigation.
Under President Armstrong’s leadership, the University has undertaken a multipronged approach to build and reinforce that culture, including increasing clarity around university rules through the appointment of a new Rules Administrator, establishing a centralized Office of Institutional Equity to address all reports of discrimination, harassment and antisemitism, strengthening the capabilities of the University’s Public Safety team, and swiftly acting to condemn and investigate recent incidents of vandalism, antisemitic imagery, and classroom disruption.
For the last 75 years, Columbia and IIJS have brought experts from around the world to campus to expand the conversation on Israel and all things related to Jewish literature, culture, and history. Ambassador Lipstadt's invitation was part of these efforts to invite experts in antisemitism to teach on campus as part of Columbia’s ongoing effort to interrogate antisemitism and expand and deepen students' understanding of this hatred.
