Columbia University apologized after its dining hall listed an “October 7 Blush Sauce” at a pasta station on Wednesday, the third anniversary of the Hamas terrorist attacks.
The sauce appeared on the daily menu at John Jay Dining Hall alongside standard options including marinara, turkey bolognese and garlic oil, according to photos that circulated widely online. Only the blush sauce carried the “October 7” designation, a detail that fueled skepticism about the university’s explanation.
A New York correspondent for Israeli outlet Haaretz posted a photo of the menu to X, where it rapidly gained traction and drew horrified reactions. “So they’re symbolically serving up the blood of October 7th victims?” one critic responded to the post. “Is that blush sauce referencing and celebrating the blood that was spilled on Oct 7,” another said. “Extremely poor taste if it is.”
The backlash intensified as critics demanded consequences. Multiple commenters called for the employee responsible to be fired and urged that the Ivy League school be “defunded.” The signage was removed by a Columbia Dining manager after the error was flagged.
Columbia addressed the controversy in a statement posted to X. “This was a mistake, not a reference to the events of October 7,” the university wrote. “The date was accidentally left in when the day’s meal information was copied into the menu template.” The statement added: “The signs were removed as soon as the error was caught, and we’re sorry for the concern and confusion this caused.”
The apology failed to satisfy many online. “Maybe just say you had a rogue employee, you apologize for this behavior, the employee has been fired, and this won’t happen again,” one woman wrote, “because expecting us to believe that ‘October 7th’ was either only typed beside one type of sauce, or it was only accidentally left beside one type of sauce, is insulting.”
The dining hall incident coincided with renewed campus tension surrounding the attack anniversary. More than 70 demonstrators gathered for a protest organized by Students for Justice in Palestine, the Columbia Spectator reported. The group has been suspended since 2023, but supporters still appeared at the rally wearing keffiyehs and calling for “intifada,” according to the Times of Israel. Some demonstrators directed slurs at NYPD officers, calling them “pigs.”
The controversy also intersected with local political developments. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani issued a statement marking the anniversary that focused primarily on attacking Israel for “war crimes” in what he termed an “ongoing genocide.” Jewish advocates accused the mayor of “weaponizing” the tragedy, adding another layer of dispute to a day already fraught with remembrance and recrimination.
The “October 7 Blush Sauce” episode marks the latest in a series of public relations crises for Columbia related to the Israel-Hamas conflict, which has repeatedly placed the university at the center of national debates over campus speech, protest policies and institutional neutrality.