Thirteen Judges Criticize Campus as ‘Incubator of Bigotry,’ Refrain from Hiring Students in Response to Protests
Thirteen conservative U.S. federal judges announced on Monday that they will refrain from hiring law students or undergraduates from Columbia University due to their concerns regarding the university’s handling of pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
In a letter issued on Monday, the judges, all appointed by former U.S. President Donald Trump, described Columbia’s Manhattan campus as an “incubator of bigotry.” They criticized both professors and administrators for their perceived role in fostering what they termed as the “virulent spread of antisemitism and bigotry” during campus disruptions.
Columbia University and Columbia Law School representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Columbia University canceled its main graduation ceremony on Monday due to ongoing protests.
Federal judges traditionally hire law graduates for year-long clerkships, which often serve as a pathway to prestigious legal careers. The judges announced that they will not consider students from Columbia entering this fall.
The letter called for accountability measures against students and faculty involved in campus disruptions and emphasized the need for the enforcement of free speech regulations.
Demonstrations against the conflict in Gaza have emerged at numerous U.S. universities, including Columbia, where protesters maintained an encampment on the main campus for several weeks before temporarily occupying a campus building. The New York City police subsequently cleared the building and arrested over 100 individuals.
The judges who signed the letter were all appointed by Trump, who has voiced support for the New York Police Department’s handling of the protests, characterizing the demonstrators as “raging lunatics and Hamas sympathizers.”
Notable signatories included U.S. Circuit Judges James Ho of the 5th Circuit and Elizabeth Branch of the 11th Circuit, who had previously announced similar boycotts of clerks from Yale and Stanford, citing disruptions of conservative speakers on those campuses.
Although the 13 judges represent only a fraction of the nation’s nearly 900 federal judges, their boycott of Columbia underscores broader concerns about free speech and ideological clashes on university campuses.
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