Columbia University was blasted on social media this week after a campus menu appeared to advertise “October 7th Blush Sauce” on the third anniversary of the horrific Hamas terror attacks, which was observed Wednesday.
The menu went viral when Israeli newspaper Haaretz correspondent Simone Saidmehr, shared an image on X of the menu, which placed “October 7th” next to “Blush Sauce.”
Comments that followed took the menu item as a reference to the approximately 1,200 victims of the October 7, 2023, attack.
“There is no way this is unintentional,” wrote one.
“Meanwhile on the same campus…” wrote another, posting footage of anti-Israel protests.
However, another cautioned, “Before this blows up, I can absolutely promise you this was unintentional. The Columbia dining folks are people who work hard and keep their head down for very little pay.”
In a Fox News report Friday, Vicki Dunn, the assistant vice president of Columbia Dining, echoed that comment, saying the menu printing was an “unfortunate mistake.”
It was corrected shortly after it was discovered, she told the outlet, saying:
This was an unfortunate mistake and was not intended as a reference to the events of October 7. The blush sauce was scheduled to be served, and when that information was copied into the menu template, the date was accidentally left in. Our staff took the signs down as soon as the mistake was identified. We are sorry for the confusion and concern this caused.
She also promised that from now on a team member will review “all menus before they are posted.”
Columbia University released a similar statement on X in response to Saidmehr’s original post.
“This was a mistake, not a reference to the events of October 7,” it stated. “The date was accidentally left in when the day’s meal information was copied into the menu template. The signs were removed as soon as the error was caught, and we’re sorry for the concern and confusion this caused.”
Some observers are no doubt sensitive to anything Columbia University does as it was one of several colleges that faced riots and protest encampments on the heels of the October 7 attacks three years ago.
The university faced multiple federal civil rights investigations based on claims that it failed to protect its Jewish students and by the summer of 2025, the Trump administration secured a $221 million settlement from the school, as reported by Breitbart News.
The administration had charged Columbia with discriminatory practices against Jewish students. The administration’s deal also settled claims of antisemitic discrimination against Jewish faculty
“However, the New York university continued to be the site of anti-Israel activism. Several anti-Israel demonstrators from the Columbia Intifada also descended on school Wednesday afternoon,” Fox News reported. “Columbia University has previously told Fox News Digital that the Columbia Intifada is not officially associated with the Ivy League school.”
Breitbart News contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of the Los Angeles crime novel Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.