Individuals

An increasingly hostile campus environment doesn’t just magically happen. Behind the encampment protests and the sometimes-violent university occupations are people driving the conversation. Activist Tracker maintains a growing database of individual case files documenting the faculty members, students, activists, and public figures shaping campus discourse around radical ideology, hostile activism, terror, and antisemitism.

Each entry lays out what these individuals are actually doing on campus: the petitions they sign, the demonstrations they support, the statements they make, the organizations they lead, and the social media posts they proudly put out into the world.

James Schamus
📍 New York City
🗺️ New York
🏫 Columbia University (Columbia)
James Schamus, a professor of film and media studies at Columbia University, openly supported the controversial pro-Hamas encampment at Columbia University in April 2024. Schamus referred to the student organizers as “brave truth-speaking young people” and stood with faculty who rallied in support of the encampment. The protest, which resulted in arrests and property damage, was heavily criticized for promoting extremist rhetoric and fostering a divisive, unsafe campus environment.
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Mae Ngai
📍 New York City
🗺️ New York
🏫 Columbia University (Columbia)
Mae Ngai has aligned herself with figures and movements that demonize Jews. This rhetoric, combined with her statement that Israel engages in “aggression and terrorism,” amplifies antisemitic tropes by framing Jews as inherently malicious while ignoring the role of Palestinian factions in perpetuating conflict.
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Munir Atalla
📍 New York City
🗺️ New York
🏫 Columbia University (Columbia)
Munir Atalla, an adjunct professor at Columbia University, has been a prominent figure in pro-Hamas and antisemitic activism. His participation in the April 2024 pro-Hamas encampment at Columbia University and his organization of a rally celebrating Hamas war crimes in October 2023 underscore his alignment with extremist, terrorist ideologies. Atalla’s actions and rhetoric have drawn criticism for glorifying violence and promoting antisemitism, marking him as a deeply divisive, possibly dangerous figure within academic and activist circles.
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Farah Griffin
📍 New York City
🗺️ New York
🏫 Columbia University (Columbia)
Farah Griffin, a prominent professor at Columbia University, has actively supported campaigns targeting Jews and aligned herself with groups advocating for their condemnation. In 2014, Griffin co-signed a letter urging the New York State Assembly to oppose legislation that countered boycott movements targeting the Jewish homeland. The letter argued for “protected speech,” including boycotts, as a form of academic and political expression.
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Jean Howard
📍 New York City
🗺️ New York
🏫 Columbia University (Columbia)
Jean Howard, a professor at Columbia University, has publicly aligned herself with campaigns targeting Jews. She endorsed calls urging Columbia to sever financial ties with companies allegedly linked to Israel, supporting demands made by groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), who have a track record of causing chaos and instability on campus. These actions have been criticized for fostering a divisive and potentially dangerous environment.
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Tarek Bazrouk
📍 New York City
🗺️ New York
🏫 Columbia University (Columbia)
Tarek Bazrouk is an individual known for his violent assaults against Jewish students and openly antisemitic rhetoric at protests outside Barnard College in New York City. Bazrouk escalated an authorized demonstration into a series of hate-fueled attacks targeting Jewish individuals on campus. Violence is definitively a word associated with Tarek Bazrouk.
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Marianne Hirsch
📍 New York City
🗺️ New York
🏫 Columbia University (Columbia)
Marianne Hirsch, a professor emerita at Columbia University, played a prominent role in the controversial pro-Hamas encampment on Columbia’s campus in April 2024. Her participation included delivering a speech during a press conference at the encampment and publicly aligning herself with its antisemitic activities and rhetoric.
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Josh Whitford
📍 New York City
🗺️ New York
🏫 Columbia University (Columbia)
Josh Whitford, an associate professor of sociology at Columbia University, actively participated in the pro-Hamas “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” in April 2024. The encampment, organized by antisemitic student groups, became a hotspot for antisemitic rhetoric, harassment of Jewish students, and explicit displays of support for terrorism. Whitford’s involvement included forming barricades to obstruct Jewish students, attending events supporting the encampment, and aligning with its divisive and inflammatory objectives.
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Dominic Mitchell
📍 New York City
🗺️ New York
🏫 Columbia University (Columbia)
Dominic Mitchell has consistently positioned himself as a dangerous and unrepentant supporter of antisemitism and violence. His long history of hateful rhetoric, glorification of terror, and inflammatory activism has revealed a disturbing commitment to fostering division and harm.
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Mohsen Mahdawi
📍 New York City
🗺️ New York
🏫 Columbia University (Columbia)
Mohsen Mahdawi has built a reputation as a dangerous advocate for violence, terrorism, and antisemitism. His actions and rhetoric reveal a clear alignment with hateful ideologies and a disturbing willingness to glorify atrocities.
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Carol Rovane
📍 New York City
🗺️ New York
🏫 Columbia University (Columbia)
As Chair of Columbia University’s Contemporary Civilization program, Carol Rovane has positioned herself at the center of an academic culture that excuses antisemitism and promotes radical, anti-Israel ideology. Under her leadership, one of Columbia’s core courses has become a pipeline for extremist rhetoric—providing cover for professors and students to normalize hatred of Israel and Jewish people under the banner of “critical thought.”
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Natasha Lightfoot
📍 New York City
🗺️ New York
🏫 Columbia University (Columbia)
Natasha Lightfoot is a Columbia University professor who has repeatedly supported extremist movements and justified acts of terrorism. She has actively participated in radical protests, defended violent actions, and promoted rhetoric that emboldens hate.
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