I am quoted in this article on antisemitism in college admissions by Valerie Strauss in The Washington Post.
A Washington Post article explores the long history of antisemitism in U.S. higher education, tracing it from the hiring of Judah Monis at Harvard in 1722 to the restrictive admissions policies elite colleges implemented in the early 20th century to limit Jewish enrollment. The piece also examines the resurgence of antisemitism on campuses today amid tensions over the Israel-Hamas war.
Pamela Nadell, director of American University’s Jewish Studies Program, provides historical insight into how Columbia University’s efforts to reduce its Jewish student population in the 1920s stemmed from concerns that Protestant students were leaving due to the school’s changing culture.
Columbia began to see Protestant students start going to other schools because they did not like the changing culture at Columbia. “These were the future business and government leaders who were children of White Anglo-Saxon elite who came out of the prep schools that had been feeders to the Ivy League schools, and they started deserting Columbia,” she said.
Read more from the article in The Washington Post.
