Lisa Rosen-Metsch is the Dean of Columbia University's School of General Studies. Dean Rosen-Metsch has displayed Islamophobia and xenophobia, and more recently, bias against any student visibly supporting the end of the war in Gaza.

The events of the past week have uncovered dark facts: many students in the school of General Studies feel that Dean Rosen-Metsch treats students unequally and systematically disfavors Arab, Muslim, and pro-Palestine students. In recent months, the dean has often refused to speak to or acknowledge several Arab students, including a group of Palestinian students seeking a meeting. 

On Saturday, April 20 at least ten students wearing keffiyehs were verbally and physically harassed at the GS Gala at the Museum of the City of New York. Dean Rosen-Metsch has ignored the students’ continual request to meet with her over the past week and has refused to address the events on a school-wide level. 

Nearly all of the attackers served or continue to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), which enjoys a covert recruitment program with the school. Tensions have certainly been present on campus, but we are shocked that ex-IDF and IDF reservists who study at GS are permitted to act on these tensions with violence, without intervention from the school. This violent pattern of behavior must end now.

This is not the first time that Dean Rosen-Metsch has discriminated against students. The dean has yet to address the chemical attack conducted by two General Studies students in the IDF that hospitalized several pro-Palestine protesters on campus in January. Meanwhile, Rosen-Metsch promptly sent a joint statement with other deans denouncing an assault against an Israeli GS student in October. Each instance of assault must be treated with equal concern.

The dean also allegedly interfered with the General Studies Student Council elections by helping an Israeli student who is also a former IDF soldier become student body president. Additionally, the dean is currently under investigation by Columbia's Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action for at least one case of discrimination against an Arab student.

In the United States of America, discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, language, and religion at higher institutions has been strictly prohibited by law since 1964. Dean Rosen-Metsch stands in opposition to those laws. She has continually failed to represent and support all of her students equally.

Help us end religious and ethnic discrimination at Columbia University. Help us ensure the safety of Muslim, Arab, and Jewish students alike. All students deserve to feel safe on campus. All students deserve equal treatment on campus.

Sign now.

This petition is endorsed by:

CU Turath

Columbia University Muslim Students Association

Columbia University Jews for Ceasefire

Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine

Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD)

Columbia University Armenians for Justice in Palestine