Columbia Provost Coatsworth Escalates Assault on Grad Student Union Rights

BY HANK REICHMAN Back in August, the National Labor Relations Board ruled in the Columbia University case that student employees at private universities have the right to organize unions to bargain collectively over the terms of their employment.  Within a week Columbia’s provost, historian John Coatsworth, responded with a letter to the campus community, which…

More False Smears and Attacks on Academic Freedom at Columbia

“Anti-Jewish Bias Claim at Columbia,” declares the headline at the National Review’s Phi Beta Cons blog. The only problem is that it’s utterly false. In January, Barnard Professor Rachel McDermott is alleged to have advised a student not to take Columbia professor Joseph Massad’s course on the Arab world because “he’s very anti-Israel,” and “You’ll…

Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others

In a posting last week on Minding the Campus, Herbert London endorsed an effort to banish anti-Semitism on campus, noting “The Israel Law Center warns that colleges and universities ‘may be liable for massive damage’ if they fail to prevent anti-Semitism. London also praises the Israel Law Center’s reference to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling…