Robert Kraft ends support of Columbia University over antisemitism on campus [View all]

[DiceK]

Hopefully this will help common sense prevail.


Patriots owner Robert Kraft, whose long standing support of Columbia University has among other things resulted in the football field being named after him, has severed ties with the school, amid ongoing antisemitism on campus.

“It was through the full academic scholarship Columbia gave me that I was able to attend college and get my start in life and for that I have been tremendously grateful,” Kraft said in a statement by the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism. “However, the school I love so much — the one that welcomed me and provided me with so much opportunity — is no longer an institution I recognize. I am deeply saddened at the virulent hate that continues to grow on campus and throughout our country. I am no longer confident that Columbia can protect its students and staff and I am not comfortable supporting the university until corrective action is taken. It is my hope that Columbia and its leadership will stand up to this hate by ending these protests immediately and will work to earn back the respect and trust of the many of us who have lost faith in the institution. It is my hope that in this difficult time, the Kraft Center at Columbia will serve as a source of security and safety for all Jewish students and faculty on campus who want to gather peacefully to practice their religion, to be together, and to be welcomed.”

Kraft has used his platform to oppose all forms of hate based on inherent human characteristics, sexual orientations, and religious ideologies.

Earlier today, the New York Times reported that some of the ongoing pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia have “veered into the harassment of Jewish students, drawing the attention of the police and the concern of a number of Jewish students.”

On Monday, the school shifted to virtual classroom sessions.

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/robert-kraft-ends-support-of-columbia-university-over-antisemitism-on-campus