State: New York
City: New York City
Campus: Columbia University (Columbia)
Born in 1964, Reinhold Martin is a professor of architecture at Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation. While known for his work on architectural history and for directing the Buell Center, Martin has evolved into one of the leading faculty champions of radical campus activism surrounding Israel and Gaza.
In April 2024, Martin joined and supported the pro-Hamas encampment, a protest site where Jewish students were harassed, extremist slogans were broadcast daily, and the university descended into chaos. Rather than acknowledge the climate of hostility, he doubled down, signing petitions defending the encampment and attacking congressional oversight as a threat to “higher education.”
By May 2024, Martin was publicly declaring that the administration had “failed to protect faculty from political attacks,” framing concerns about antisemitism as manufactured pressure rather than responding to widespread reports from Jewish students. Throughout 2024 and 2025, he authored articles portraying Columbia’s crisis as a “horror film” caused not by the encampment’s aggression, but by the university’s attempts to impose basic rules and safety measures.
Martin’s activism extends years back: from signing anti-Israel letters in 2023, to boycotting MoMA in 2021 over its alleged ties to “imperialism,” to denouncing Cornell for interrupting an anti-colonial lecture in 2020. He also signed Columbia’s “Apartheid Divest” petition demanding financial severance from Israel.
As AAUP president, Martin has used his authority to claim that crackdowns on extremist activism are “attacks on academic freedom,” positioning himself as a guardian of protest movements rather than a protector of campus safety.
Apr 2024: Participated in and supported the Columbia pro-Hamas encampment.
Apr 2024: Signed the petition “Defending Columbia University from the Congressional Assault on Higher Education.”
May 2024: Declared the administration failed to defend faculty from “political attacks” during encampment fallout.
Dec 2024: Described Columbia’s post-encampment climate as a “horror film,” blaming administrative policies, not the harassment Jewish students experienced.
Mar 2025: Demanded the release of ICE-arrested protest leader Mahmoud Khalil.
Mar 2025: Called the federal revocation of $400M in grants “authoritarian interference” and warned the move was meant to “crush dissent.”
Feb 2025: Published an article portraying lawsuits against Columbia-AAUP as intimidation tactics.
Oct 2023 – May 2021 – Oct 2020: Signed multiple anti-Israel, anti-colonial, and divestment statements across institutions.
Signed Columbia “Apartheid Divest,” calling for divestment from companies tied to Israel.
Martin is deeply embedded in faculty networks that blur the line between scholarship and activism, using intellectual platforms to justify encampments, delegitimize safety concerns, and normalize extremist narratives about Israel.
Reinhold Martin embodies a growing trend at Columbia: professors who treat militant activism as academic virtue while ignoring its consequences. His presence at the encampment (where Jewish students reported harassment, intimidation, and threats) sent an unmistakable message: faculty approval extends even to movements that cross into open hostility.
By consistently reframing antisemitism crackdowns as “political persecution” and portraying extremist activism as the heart of university life, Martin has contributed directly to a campus environment where Jewish safety is sidelined and faculty authority is wielded to validate the most aggressive forms of protest.
When a professor with national influence insists that violent rhetoric and encampment takeovers are protected expressions of “academic freedom,” he legitimizes the very behaviors that have destabilized Columbia and pushed Jewish students to the margins.
The impact is clear: rising antisemitism, emboldened protest factions, and a campus where institutional authority collapses under the weight of faculty-driven activism.
Accountability is not punitive: it is necessary to prevent university spaces from being overtaken by intimidation disguised as scholarship.
