Columbia President Labeled Jewish Trustee a ‘Mole,’ Sought Arab Replacement Amid Campus Antisemitism

Internal communications from January and April 2024 expose Claire Shipman then acting president and former board chair of Columbia University making antisemitic remarks and attempting to remove a Jewish trustee who spoke out against growing antisemitism on campus.

The emails, obtained by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R‑NY) and Rep. Tim Walberg (R‑MI), paint a troubling picture: Shipman dismissed trustee Shoshana Shendelman as “extraordinarily unhelpful” and stated she was a "mole,” referring to Shendelman’s vocal criticism of pro-Palestinian demonstrators and antisemitic rhetoric on campus.

Key revelations from the correspondence:

• Effort to replace a Jewish board member: Shipman insisted that Columbia “need someone from the Middle East or who is Arab on our board,” while seeking to remove Shendelman whose vocal advocacy for Jewish students made her a target.

• Labeling Shendelman a spy: After encountering Shendelman’s attempts to stay informed, Shipman told vice-chair Wanda Greene that she thought Shendelman was a “Fox in the henhouse.”

• Efforts to exclude her from discussions: Greene echoed frustration, stating “I’m tired of her so, so tired,” and deliberately froze Shendelman out during negotiations with campus demonstrators.

These exchanges occurred in the wake of widespread antisemitic incidents at Columbia, including Nazis-themed fascist imagery in student projects and public condemnation of Jewish students as “baby-killers” during protests.

In response to congressional inquiries, Columbia acknowledged sharing the communications in 2024 but described them as taken "out of context" during a “particularly difficult moment” and declined to clarify further.

The targeting of a Jewish trustee who stood up for Jewish students amid rising antisemitism on campus is both alarming and emblematic of deeper institutional failures to protect minority students.

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