Columbia professor who blocked Jewish student during encampments given promotion Posted on December 29, 2025 By Alexandra Horwitz - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Share to: More options Email Reddit Telegram Copy link A scholar at Columbia University who is shown in a video blocking a student from accessing a portion of campus during an anti-Israel protest has been given a promotion, prompting some criticism. The group Columbia Jewish & Israeli Students posted on X earlier this month showing that Manan Ahmed has been given a promotion from associate professor to full professor of history at Columbia, citing screenshots of his faculty bio. “@Columbia History professor Manan Ahmed, who blocked Jewish students at the encampment, has been promoted from Associate Professor to full Professor (proof in comment). Prof. Ahmed was never disciplined. Instead, Columbia rewarded him,” the group posted Dec. 3. The post also includes screenshots of his online faculty bio from the spring compared with now, showing the new title. Officials in Columbia University’s media relations department did not respond to emails from The College Fix seeking comment on behalf of Ahmed. Specializing in the history of South Asian and the western Indian Ocean World, Ahmed is a member of Columbia’s Center for Study of Ethnicity and Race, as well as the Center for the Study of Muslim Societies. He is also a member of Columbia’s Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine. The 70-second video posted by Columbia Jewish & Israeli Students appears to show a moment from the spring 2024 pro-Palestinian encampments that engulfed the campus. In it, Ahmed dons a bright yellow safety vest, hat, dark gasses, and a mask, and is seen talking to a student who appears to be taking the video. The student is not visible but can be heard, and has a thick Israeli accent. The student seeks access to the blocked off portion of campus, and the scholar tells the student “you can’t go in.” Ahmed said the student could go in during “press hours” but not at the time the video was being recorded, citing the pro-Palestintian student protesters’ preference that he not be permitted. “I’m a fucking student here, are you saying these students can be there and I can’t,” the student, who is not named, can be heard saying on the video. Ahmed, while remaining calm and never raising his voice, continued to deny the student entry, saying “you can’t go in” repeatedly to the student’s requests “I am going to climb up this fence and I want you to stop me,” the student said before the video ends abruptly. The video has been viewed nearly 50,000 times this month. Columbia’s media relations team did not respond to emails from The College Fix also seeking comment on the professor’s apparent promotion and the criticism it drew. Reporting on the video, the Jerusalem Post noted: “Columbia Faculty and Staff Supporting Israel questioned who purchased the vests and instructed faculty to block students at the encampment. Blocking students violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.”