The three Columbia University deans who were placed on leave in June after exchanging antisemitic text messages will resign, a university official confirmed to Jewish Insider on Thursday.  

The resignations come more than one month after several students told JI that the original announcement from Columbia administration was “confusing” and “intentionally ambiguous.” The June 20 announcement from President Minouche Shafik referenced the “permanent removal” of the three — Susan Chang-Kim, vice dean and chief administrative officer; Cristen Kromm, dean of undergraduate student life; and Matthew Patashnick, associate dean for student and family support — but added that they “remain on leave.” 

The controversial texts, first reported by The Free Beacon, occurred during a May 31 panel titled “Jewish Life on Campus: Past, Present and Future.” In the exchange, the administrators seemed to belittle the concerns of Jewish students amid a sharp rise in antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment on campus. 

The text messages, which have since been published by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, which opened an investigation into the incident and demanded a full transcript of the texts, included a message from Chang-Kim at 1:46 p.m. reading, “Comes from such a place of privilege … hard to hear the woe is me, we need to huddle at the Kraft center. Huh??” At 2:06 p.m., Kromm wrote, “Amazing what $$$$ can do” during a speech about an October 2023 Columbia Spectator op-ed by a campus rabbi.

A fourth administrator, Dean of Columbia College Josef Sorett, also participated in the exchange but to a lesser extent. Shafik said at the time that disciplinary action would not be taken against Sorett, as “he has apologized and taken full responsibility, committing to the work and collaboration necessary to heal the community and learn from this moment, and make sure nothing like this ever happens again.” 

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, said in a statement on Thursday that it was “about time” the deans step down. “Actions have consequences and Columbia should have fired all four of these deans months ago,” Foxx said. 

Foxx condemned Columbia for sending “mixed signals” by allowing Sorrett to remain on staff. 

A spokesperson for Columbia University confirmed to JI that the three deans are resigning but declined to provide further detail. 

The resignations, which were first reported by The New York Times come as the Columbia community is bracing for another surge of anti-Israel and pro-Hamas activity, which overtook the campus throughout the 2023-24 academic year. 

Several incidents have already occurred this week — before the fall semester begins. Early Thursday morning, vandals attacked the Brooklyn Heights apartment building of the university’s chief operating officer, Cas Holloway, who is Jewish, splashing the building with painted red triangles, a symbol associated with Hamas terrorists. 

The perpetrators also released insects into the building and distributed posters throughout the lobby that read, “You signed off on police brutality. Now you want to expel us?” a reference to the illegal anti-Israel encampments and subsequent disciplinary action — including the shutdown of the university —  that took place in the spring.  

On Monday, five Columbia students and graduates filed a class action lawsuit against students and activists involved with the encampments, which reportedly consisted of weeks of threatening chants such as “Death to Israel,” “Death to America,” “Death to Jews,” and “Hamas we love you.”  The case includes Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) as defendants. 

Earlier this week, the group Columbia University Apartheid Divest wrote in an Instagram post that it is “fighting for the total eradication of Western civilization.” CUAD, a coalition formed in 2016, has gained renewed support since the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, with at least 80 student groups at Columbia joining the coalition.