BS BULLETIN:
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Columbia University displayed a dining hall menu advertising “October 7th Blush Sauce” on the third anniversary of Hamas’ massacre in Israel.
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The university blamed a menu-template error, apologized and removed the signs.
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The controversy erupted as anti-Israel demonstrators gathered on campus and Jewish students commemorated the victims.
Columbia University managed to turn an ordinary pasta sauce into a national controversy Wednesday by displaying “October 7th Blush Sauce” on its dining hall menu — on the third anniversary of the Hamas terrorist attacks that killed approximately 1,200 people in Israel.
The sign appeared at the pasta station in John Jay Dining Hall, alongside marinara, turkey bolognese and garlic oil. The blush sauce was the only sauce carrying the date.
A photograph posted on X by Haaretz correspondent Simone Saidmehr quickly spread, with critics questioning whether the name was an intentional reference to the bloodshed.
“So they’re symbolically serving up the blood of October 7th victims?” one commenter asked.
Another questioned whether the sauce was “referencing and celebrating the blood that was spilled on Oct 7.”
Columbia insisted it was an accident.
Vicki Dunn, assistant vice president of Columbia Dining, told Fox News Digital that the date had mistakenly remained when staff copied information into a menu template.
“This was an unfortunate mistake and was not intended as a reference to the events of October 7,” Dunn said.
The university removed the signs, apologized and announced that an additional staff member would review menus before they were posted.
But the explanation didn’t satisfy everyone.
One critic suggested Columbia should acknowledge a rogue employee rather than expect people to believe the date had accidentally appeared beside just one sauce.
The controversy landed on a campus already under intense scrutiny over antisemitism. In 2025, Columbia agreed to a $221 million settlement with the Trump administration following federal investigations involving alleged discrimination and its treatment of Jewish students.
And the timing was particularly combustible.
While Jewish students commemorated the massacre with an installation of approximately 1,200 empty white chairs, more than 70 pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered outside the university’s gates for a protest organized by a student group Columbia had previously suspended.
There is no evidence establishing that the menu wording was intentional. But at a university still dealing with the consequences of its response to October 7, even a claimed copy-and-paste mistake was enough to reignite the controversy.
MY QUICK TAKE
Columbia says this was a clerical error, and that may well be true. But when your campus has spent three years at the center of an antisemitism controversy, putting “October 7th” next to a pinkish-red sauce is going to raise eyebrows. The Ivy League is supposed to produce some of America’s brightest minds. Apparently, proofreading the lunch menu now requires an additional layer of management.
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