Columbia University announced the formation of the Task Force on Antisemitism Wednesday afternoon. A letter was sent to students and faculty members. The task force includes members of the Barnard and Teachers College communities, too.

The task force is meant to tackle the ‘terribly resilient form of hatred’ as the number of Jewish-related assaults and harassment have reached record-breaking numbers on college campuses across the country.

‘We are taking this step as part of a commitment to ensuring that our campuses are safe, welcoming, and inclusive for Jewish students, faculty, and staff, and all of us,’ the letter signed by President Shafik, Rosenbury and Bailey read.

‘One would hope that by the twenty-first century, antisemitism would have been relegated to the dustbin of history,’ the letter continued. ‘But it has been rising here in New York City, across the country, and around the world in recent years.’

The announcement comes just days after nearly 300 staff at Columbia signed a letter condemning their colleagues for defending students who said the terror attacks by Hamas in Israel were justified.

The response by Columbia since the start of the anti-Semitic protests and unrest on campus has been a clown show. Where have the adults in charge been? To appease some students who supported terrorist attacks against Israel was absurd. There is no justification for terrorism. It took several days for those in the Columbia staff who realized that the show of support for students defending terror attacks was wrong to speak out. When they finally did, in a letter that more than 100 staff signed, it was to announce a task force.

I don’t want to be a Negative Nancy here but a task force? Really? Isn’t that a typical bureaucratic way of kicking the can down the road? When all else fails, form a task force. What about shutting down the Columbia chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine? They are the ones behind the show of support for the terror attacks lodged by Hamas. That would be more effective than a bunch of university officials sitting around a conference room’s table and jawboning.

Students are learning the hard way that there are going to be negative reactions to support of terrorism. The acts of terror against Israel on October 7 shocked the world. There is no going back, there is no justification. Hamas must be eliminated. Half-measures don’t do the job.

Harvard is trying to get on the right side of history now. It recently announced it has launched an anti-Semitism advisory board.

Columbia’s announcement comes after Harvard University president Claudine Gay launched an anti-Semitism advisory board after Hamas’ terror attack on Israel sparked wave of bigotry on campus.

Gay told Harvard Hillel-hosted Shabbat dinner on Friday that she wanted to make it ‘absolutely clear’ that ‘antisemitism has no place at Harvard.’

‘For years, this university has done too little to confront its continuing presence. No longer,’ she said.

Columbia announced its appointees to the task force. Barnard and Teachers College will follow with theirs.

We are pleased that the task force will be led by Ester Fuchs, Professor of International and Public Affairs and Political Science and Director of the Urban and Social Policy Program at SIPA; Nicholas Lemann, Joseph Pulitzer II and Edith Pulitzer Moore Professor of Journalism and Dean Emeritus of Columbia Journalism School; and David M. Schizer, Harvey R. Miller Professor of Law and Economics and Dean Emeritus of Columbia Law School. In the coming days, we will appoint Barnard and Teachers College co-chairs along with additional diverse task force members from the three institutions, and build the foundation for a thoughtful, rigorous, and impactful process.

Community and values don’t stand on their own. We must constantly reaffirm and reinforce them with action. The Task Force on Antisemitism represents the first in a series of steps we will be announcing in the coming days to reinvigorate community-building, develop robust support networks, and tackle head-on the destructive forces that seek to undermine our values and divide us across a range of issues. This is an opportunity for every academic department, every faculty member and teaching assistant, every member of the administration, and every member of the Columbia, Barnard, and Teachers College student family to bring their ideas, life experiences, and spirit to help us emerge as a stronger and more cohesive community.

The incompetence and inability of college officials and leaders to put a stop to the anti-Israel and anti-Jew hatred on display has been an eye-opener. The schools deserve for their donors to stop supporting them in light of the current chaos on campuses. This behavior has been nurtured by academics for far too long and this is the result. Never again means never again. Shame on those adults who know evil when they see it for being silent for so long.