DISPATCHES FROM THE EDUCATION APOCALYPSE: ‘MckArthy [sic] Era:’ Columbia Middle Eastern Studies Chair Decries Free Beacon Report on Deans’ Anti-Semitic Text Exchanges.

Columbia College dean Josef Sorett, under fire for his role in a texting scandal that landed three of his fellow administrators on leave, has support from at least one prominent Columbia faculty member: Gil Hochberg, a Hebrew professor who chairs the school’s Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies department.

In a Sunday post shared to her private Instagram account, Hochberg linked to the Washington Free Beacon‘s June 12 report exposing vitriolic text messages sent between Sorett and his colleagues amid a panel on campus anti-Semitism. Hochberg rallied behind Sorett, calling him a “dear friend” whose critics are part of a new “MckArthy [sic] Era.”

“I hope no one is taking a photo of my screen as I post this. I mean, how can this be real?????” Hochberg wrote in the post, which was obtained by the Free Beacon. “Josef Sorett dear friend. We will not be quite [sic] about this!”

Quite.