Former Columbia University Interim President Katrina Armstrong recently stated that she has “no specific memory” of learning about students calling for the destruction of Israel, despite the fact that anti-Israel activists have been protesting at the institution for well over a year.
Armstrong made the statement during a deposition for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The transcript of the deposition has been obtained and published online by The Washington Free Beacon.
During her testimony, the Columbia administrator was asked whether she remembered learning about anti-Zionist rhetoric at the school. After initially not directly answering the question, Armstrong contended she had “no specific memory” of hearing that information.
“Do you remember learning that students were calling for the destruction of the state of Israel?” Armstrong was asked during the deposition.
“I remember meeting with many students and hearing many things,” Armstrong began. “Sitting here, I have, you know, no specific memory of hearing that, but I recognize the concern about that and understand that.”
Armstrong was also asked about the effectiveness of Columbia’s anti-Semitism task force. At one point, when asked about which definition of anti-Semitism the school administration chose to implement, Armstrong remarked: “this is not my area of expertise.”
“Again, this is not my area of expertise. This area of definition, as they say, the working definition of antisemitism for pedagogy and training,” she replied.
Campus Reform has reported that Armstrong resigned from her position in the Columbia administration after repeated incidents of anti-Semitic conduct rocked the school’s Morningside Heights campus.
During Armstrong’s short tenure, anti-Israel activists at Columbia shared a guide for vandalism, which encouraged students to create “targets” that “enabled and profited” from the “Israeli weapons industry.
“Smashing stuff can also be very quick to do,” the guide said. “With an efficient sledgehammer in your hand, you can cause quite a bit of damage! Smashing windows often only takes one or two swings.”
Columbia University also came under federal scrutiny after allegations emerged that pro-Palestine demonstrators created swastika graffiti inside one of the school’s classroom buildings. During the demonstration in question, protesters shouted “Free Palestine!” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”
Additionally, earlier this year an Israeli-American professor resigned from his position after an allegedly anti-Semitic professor was tapped to teach a course about Zionism.
“This wasn’t just Columbia reacting to events; this was an active decision to promote an anti-Zionist narrative,” the Israeli professor argued. “If a professor said the U.S. shouldn’t exist, would you let them teach American history?”
Campus Reform has contacted Columbia University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
This article was originally published at campusreform.org
