Wednesday, Dec 12th. All day (STUDENTS COME AT 1:15 by TRAIN)
In front of the NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL
Hearings on Manhattanville
DEFEND THE COMMUNITY PLAN, DEMAND A JUST EXPANSION
What?
A Show of Strength and Solidarity with the Communities of Harlem
Students Take a Stand at the City Council public hearing on the
Columbia Expansion
Meet at the 116th and Broadway Gates at 1:15pm.
At 2pm we will be at the hearing to SHOW our support
and let the City Council know: "STUDENTS SAY: NO ONE GETS DISPLACED"
(you will be back uptown to work on finals and papers by 3pm if you
like :) and if you have music or noise makers bring them along )
Directions by train:
Take the 1, 2, 3, A or C to Chambers Street, enter through City Hall
Park.
What matters most right now is the more the better. For EVERY PERSON
who comes out the message will be louder and clearer.
--
Why Now?
Wednesday, is the last major hearing as part of the city process to
determine the future of West Harlem and the Columbia plan to build a
17 acre / $7bn research campus in the neighborhood of Manhattanville.
As you may know the Columbia plan has long competed with the
community's (197a) plan for the future of the neighborhood.
Most community residents believe both plans can co-exist, but in order
for that to happen, the Columbia must be accountable to the community
needs - most especially no displacement of residents in the expansion
area or the surrounding neighborhoods .
Columbia's own environmental impact study predicts that 300 people
will be directly displaced and over 3,300 people from the surrounding
Black and Latino neighborhoods will see their rents become
unaffordable because of this development - something already happening
throughout the neighborhood.
The City Council are the publicly accountable decision makers for New
Yorkers. What the City decides goes, except what gets worked out in
private negotiations and the state. This may be the last chance to
have a major student and public showing on the expansion .
What happened as of late?
You may have heard some of the recent news around the expansion and
displacement in Harlem. The 125th St zoning receiving little support
throughout the neighborhood and getting voted down by Central Harlem's
CB10 because it will destroy the character of one of America's most
important commercial streets, and the heart of Harlem. Or you have
heard about the trouble the West Harlem Local Development Corp. has
come across in negotiating with Columbia about a fair and just set of
community benefits because of the role of politicians and closed
negotiations with Columbia. Or you heard about the Hunger Strike,
which though seven students and a professor fasted for 10 days the
University administration made no concessions on the expansion,
especially around protecting tenants who will be displaced and
offering an adequate amount toward preserving and creating affordable
housing its plan will displace.
This is the last public hearing of a 7 month city review process. The
process was started during the summer, and will end during winter
break. A decision made by the University that has excluded community
residents and students alike from the process. The University made no
change to the start of the hearings when students and community
brought these concerns saying that this timing will exclude us from
the process.
What is Wednesday again?
Though this hearing falls on reading days - one of the worst times for
student participation - and at the height of the holidays - when our
neighbors should be spending time with their families - we still have
a chance to be HEARD and take ACTION!
People who want, can, have, not sure but think they should, - give two
hours of your time (1:15 - 3:15), and come down to the hearing. There
will be some visible action taking place, so the City Council knows
"STUDENTS SAY: NO DISPLACEMENT"
Meet at the 116th St. Broadway Gates - 1:15
Bring noise makers if you have
Monday, December 10, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
1986 Anti-Apartheid Hunger Strikers
Dear folks,
We are writing to support your courageous protest. We are survivors of a 14-day student hunger strike in 1986, which not only ultimately led Columbia to abandon its investments in companies doing business in South Africa but also boosted a growing national movement for divestment. In the end that helped the anti-apartheid movement prevail in South Africa.
When you act from conviction, you get the only results that count. So be strong and know that you are carrying on a proud tradition.
Let us know if there's anything you need.
Yours in solidarity,
Tony Glover
Rob Jones
Laird Townsend
Whitney Tymas
We are writing to support your courageous protest. We are survivors of a 14-day student hunger strike in 1986, which not only ultimately led Columbia to abandon its investments in companies doing business in South Africa but also boosted a growing national movement for divestment. In the end that helped the anti-apartheid movement prevail in South Africa.
When you act from conviction, you get the only results that count. So be strong and know that you are carrying on a proud tradition.
Let us know if there's anything you need.
Yours in solidarity,
Tony Glover
Rob Jones
Laird Townsend
Whitney Tymas
Monday, November 19, 2007
What We Just Won
What we just won: Administrative commitment to, and student involvement in, expansion of the OMA, expansion of Ethnic Studies, and transformation of Major Cultures into a seminar format on equal footing with CC and Lit Hum.
What the Next Five Years will bring is….
Ethnic Studies
For the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race (CSER):
• Three senior faculty hires
• Increased student participation in hiring process
Senior faculty hire for IRAAS (the Institute for Research in African American Studies)
Recruitment of a scholar in Native American Studies
Resources toward strengthened ties between CSER, IRAAS and IRWAG (the Institute for Research on Women and Gender)
Student participation in the Academic Review Committee on CSER allowing for student input in CSER's development
Office of Multicultural Affairs and Administrative Reform
Review of the OMA and the School of the Arts and Sciences to:
• Identify the unmet needs for the Office of Multicultural Affairs
• Access to the OMA for the School of General Studies
• Identify the needs for a Multicultural Affairs officer in the Arts and Sciences
• Create more safe spaces for a number of campus communities
The new location of an expanded Intercultural Resource Center will be announced and funded at the end of the semester
The Annual orientation for new faculty will include perspectives that address the power and privilege
Diversity education and training for Public Safety staff
The Core and Major Cultures
Increased student participation in the re-examining of the Core beginning this semester
Commitment to funding new Major Cultures seminars when approved by the Committee on the Core and the Task Force on Undergraduate Education
Faculty, Student and Alumni Oversight
A committee of faculty, students and alumni to ensure the progress of these concerns
We've gotten the ball rolling, Columbia. We've put these things on the table and won a commitment to raise the money so that they will actually happen. Now it's up to you, students and faculty of the entire university, to shape it.
What the Next Five Years will bring is….
Ethnic Studies
For the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race (CSER):
• Three senior faculty hires
• Increased student participation in hiring process
Senior faculty hire for IRAAS (the Institute for Research in African American Studies)
Recruitment of a scholar in Native American Studies
Resources toward strengthened ties between CSER, IRAAS and IRWAG (the Institute for Research on Women and Gender)
Student participation in the Academic Review Committee on CSER allowing for student input in CSER's development
Office of Multicultural Affairs and Administrative Reform
Review of the OMA and the School of the Arts and Sciences to:
• Identify the unmet needs for the Office of Multicultural Affairs
• Access to the OMA for the School of General Studies
• Identify the needs for a Multicultural Affairs officer in the Arts and Sciences
• Create more safe spaces for a number of campus communities
The new location of an expanded Intercultural Resource Center will be announced and funded at the end of the semester
The Annual orientation for new faculty will include perspectives that address the power and privilege
Diversity education and training for Public Safety staff
The Core and Major Cultures
Increased student participation in the re-examining of the Core beginning this semester
Commitment to funding new Major Cultures seminars when approved by the Committee on the Core and the Task Force on Undergraduate Education
Faculty, Student and Alumni Oversight
A committee of faculty, students and alumni to ensure the progress of these concerns
We've gotten the ball rolling, Columbia. We've put these things on the table and won a commitment to raise the money so that they will actually happen. Now it's up to you, students and faculty of the entire university, to shape it.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Press Release: Friday, November 16, 2007
***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***
November 16, 2007
*Tonight all remaining Columbia hunger strikers will break their fast*
Official website: www.cu-strike.blogspot.com
VIGIL 9PM, NOV. 16TH, SUNDIAL ON COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY'S CAMPUS, W. 116TH ST., BETWEEN BROADWAY AND AMSTERDAM
In response to the concerns of the Coalition to Preserve Community and prominent community members for the Columbia University hunger strikers' health, the remaining hunger strikers will break their fast at tonight's 9pm vigil. Although, at the urging of community members, they will change their form of protest, the individuals who have been on strike and those who have mobilized around this movement are committed to continuing their struggle for an ethical expansion by Columbia into West Harlem.
Negotiations on the strikers' demands relating to Columbia's expansion took place yesterday. The administration's response to student demands was patronizing, and led to nothing but a restating of the university's current positions, demonstrating continual resistance to engaging in constructive discussion with its students. Ryan Fukumori, CC'09 and a student negotiator, noted that, on the issue of expansion, "This administration is in a moral crisis when its financial interests surpass the greater needs of the community." He added, "Despite significant advancements made in the areas of administrative and curricular reform, we have unfortunately not seen the same cooperative attitude from administrators on the topic of expansion."
Community members have expressed their greatest appreciation for the student movement that escalated into a hunger strike ten days ago. The administration's appreciation for the community is less apparent: community members were asked by present officials to leave the gathering of silent observers at yesterday's negotiation. It had been agreed at student insistence that negotiations would be made public, but it had not been explicitly specified whether community members were included in this agreement.
Students maintained their resolve over their demands regarding Columbia's expansion. The points brought by students to the negotiations yesterday were compromises from the students' original positions. Demands include: that Columbia take eminent domain completely off the table; that it promise to negotiate with tenants and the Local Development Corporation rather than landlords and city politicians; and that resources be allocated to creating affordable housing for the 5035 people who are living in unsubsidized housing in the area of expansion.
November 16, 2007
*Tonight all remaining Columbia hunger strikers will break their fast*
Contact: Jamie Chen, Student Organizer, eimajine@gmail.com , 240.305.7628
Contact: David Judd, Student Organizer, davidajudd@gmail.com , 646.326.0944
Contact: Annie Salsich, Student Organizer, asalsich06@yahoo.com , 508.314.0422
Contact: Linnea Hincks, Student Organizer, linneahincks@gmail.com , 646.388.0603
Contact: David Judd, Student Organizer, davidajudd@gmail.com , 646.326.0944
Contact: Annie Salsich, Student Organizer, asalsich06@yahoo.com , 508.314.0422
Contact: Linnea Hincks, Student Organizer, linneahincks@gmail.com , 646.388.0603
Official website: www.cu-strike.blogspot.com
VIGIL 9PM, NOV. 16TH, SUNDIAL ON COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY'S CAMPUS, W. 116TH ST., BETWEEN BROADWAY AND AMSTERDAM
In response to the concerns of the Coalition to Preserve Community and prominent community members for the Columbia University hunger strikers' health, the remaining hunger strikers will break their fast at tonight's 9pm vigil. Although, at the urging of community members, they will change their form of protest, the individuals who have been on strike and those who have mobilized around this movement are committed to continuing their struggle for an ethical expansion by Columbia into West Harlem.
Negotiations on the strikers' demands relating to Columbia's expansion took place yesterday. The administration's response to student demands was patronizing, and led to nothing but a restating of the university's current positions, demonstrating continual resistance to engaging in constructive discussion with its students. Ryan Fukumori, CC'09 and a student negotiator, noted that, on the issue of expansion, "This administration is in a moral crisis when its financial interests surpass the greater needs of the community." He added, "Despite significant advancements made in the areas of administrative and curricular reform, we have unfortunately not seen the same cooperative attitude from administrators on the topic of expansion."
Community members have expressed their greatest appreciation for the student movement that escalated into a hunger strike ten days ago. The administration's appreciation for the community is less apparent: community members were asked by present officials to leave the gathering of silent observers at yesterday's negotiation. It had been agreed at student insistence that negotiations would be made public, but it had not been explicitly specified whether community members were included in this agreement.
Students maintained their resolve over their demands regarding Columbia's expansion. The points brought by students to the negotiations yesterday were compromises from the students' original positions. Demands include: that Columbia take eminent domain completely off the table; that it promise to negotiate with tenants and the Local Development Corporation rather than landlords and city politicians; and that resources be allocated to creating affordable housing for the 5035 people who are living in unsubsidized housing in the area of expansion.
Open Letter to the Administrators, from the Negotiators
Dear Administrators,
We would like to begin by reminding you how we got to this point. But first, we want to state why we're not here: we're not here because a small group of students decided to hold the university hostage. We're not here requesting a laundry list of concessions, or else. We're not here for our own selfish whims. We're here because this semester we saw hate far and wide on this campus. We heard President Bollinger the face and head of our university make inflammatory remarks. We've seen incidences of racist, Islamophobic and anti-Semitic language in our community and we've experienced the personal attacks on Teachers College faculty in the form of swastikas and nooses. This is unacceptable in our community, but even less acceptable is the administration's lack of response. These acts and our university's inability to address them have only illuminated the vast inadequacies of this institution on numerous levels. We're here to address the ways in which this university contributes to the marginalization of communities.
How is it that students on our campus can say that other students are overreacting when they are outraged by nooses in our community? What is the responsibility of our university to provide resources to create a safe, inclusive and just campus community and responsible world citizens? We don't think our opinions differ so vastly on these points.
What we have laid out are ways we believe we can encourage this university to be accountable to its students and community, and specifically how we can (re)envision a process, administration, and university that will lead to this safe, just and inclusive community we imagine.
Unfortunately (re)imagining the process by which we operate is not simple and unfortunately it can not be satisfied by placing checkmarks next to a laundry list of requests. Further, considering the significant difference of power between students and administrators, it is rather unfair and impractical to expect us to trust that these concerns and commitments will be followed through on without having the proposals and time tables by which these commitments will be implemented. We see our current agreements over the document as a first step in ensuring our trust in the process as we move forward.
As to those many places where we have not made agreements or where we must defer to faculty, reviews and other processes, we would simply like emphasize the importance of the blue ribbon oversight committee proposed and agreed upon. It is simply unfair to expect students to become experts on the complexities of your bureaucratic system. In the future when approached with proposals, as we have in the past, we would ask you to tell us what you can do within your purview, if our proposals don't work, to help us to make our vision for what this community can be a reality.
We would hope that your commitment to our community would extend beyond the discrete proposals we have made- beyond, even, the discrete issues we have brought up to truly interrogate how you can use your power to play a role in affecting change at every level of this institution. We expect this to be a starting point, not an end point, but we need to see that this is understood by your side as well.
Just to reiterate this clearly, the student organizing in the past weeks was not just about how many hires we can get out of this process or specifically how much funding we can secure. Rather it should have been about you coming to us and saying "I may not be able to do this but I can call a meeting" or "I can start making calls to donors" or "I can have this or that discussion with the relevant administrators."
Please understand that this is about being able to see your commitment for a new vision of our community in a tangible way, not trying to coerce you into acquiescing to some self-interested and un-negotiable demands. In that spirit, we hope that you yourselves will, in the future, be making recommendations to students above and beyond our own to make our community a safer more inclusive place, but we'll leave that to you for now.
Sincerely,
Rahel Aima, CC'10
Yadira Alvarez, CC'10
Desiree Carver-Thomas, CC'09
Ryan Fukumori, CC'09
Vivian Lu, CC'10
Andrew Lyubarsky, CC'09
Sam Rennebohm, GS'09
Julie Schneyer, BC'08
Andrew Tillett-Saks, CC'09
Christien Tompkins, CC'08
with the concerned students organizing around the hunger strike and demands of Autumn 2007
We would like to begin by reminding you how we got to this point. But first, we want to state why we're not here: we're not here because a small group of students decided to hold the university hostage. We're not here requesting a laundry list of concessions, or else. We're not here for our own selfish whims. We're here because this semester we saw hate far and wide on this campus. We heard President Bollinger the face and head of our university make inflammatory remarks. We've seen incidences of racist, Islamophobic and anti-Semitic language in our community and we've experienced the personal attacks on Teachers College faculty in the form of swastikas and nooses. This is unacceptable in our community, but even less acceptable is the administration's lack of response. These acts and our university's inability to address them have only illuminated the vast inadequacies of this institution on numerous levels. We're here to address the ways in which this university contributes to the marginalization of communities.
How is it that students on our campus can say that other students are overreacting when they are outraged by nooses in our community? What is the responsibility of our university to provide resources to create a safe, inclusive and just campus community and responsible world citizens? We don't think our opinions differ so vastly on these points.
What we have laid out are ways we believe we can encourage this university to be accountable to its students and community, and specifically how we can (re)envision a process, administration, and university that will lead to this safe, just and inclusive community we imagine.
Unfortunately (re)imagining the process by which we operate is not simple and unfortunately it can not be satisfied by placing checkmarks next to a laundry list of requests. Further, considering the significant difference of power between students and administrators, it is rather unfair and impractical to expect us to trust that these concerns and commitments will be followed through on without having the proposals and time tables by which these commitments will be implemented. We see our current agreements over the document as a first step in ensuring our trust in the process as we move forward.
As to those many places where we have not made agreements or where we must defer to faculty, reviews and other processes, we would simply like emphasize the importance of the blue ribbon oversight committee proposed and agreed upon. It is simply unfair to expect students to become experts on the complexities of your bureaucratic system. In the future when approached with proposals, as we have in the past, we would ask you to tell us what you can do within your purview, if our proposals don't work, to help us to make our vision for what this community can be a reality.
We would hope that your commitment to our community would extend beyond the discrete proposals we have made- beyond, even, the discrete issues we have brought up to truly interrogate how you can use your power to play a role in affecting change at every level of this institution. We expect this to be a starting point, not an end point, but we need to see that this is understood by your side as well.
Just to reiterate this clearly, the student organizing in the past weeks was not just about how many hires we can get out of this process or specifically how much funding we can secure. Rather it should have been about you coming to us and saying "I may not be able to do this but I can call a meeting" or "I can start making calls to donors" or "I can have this or that discussion with the relevant administrators."
Please understand that this is about being able to see your commitment for a new vision of our community in a tangible way, not trying to coerce you into acquiescing to some self-interested and un-negotiable demands. In that spirit, we hope that you yourselves will, in the future, be making recommendations to students above and beyond our own to make our community a safer more inclusive place, but we'll leave that to you for now.
Sincerely,
Rahel Aima, CC'10
Yadira Alvarez, CC'10
Desiree Carver-Thomas, CC'09
Ryan Fukumori, CC'09
Vivian Lu, CC'10
Andrew Lyubarsky, CC'09
Sam Rennebohm, GS'09
Julie Schneyer, BC'08
Andrew Tillett-Saks, CC'09
Christien Tompkins, CC'08
with the concerned students organizing around the hunger strike and demands of Autumn 2007
Joint Statement from Administrators and Students
Any successful negotiation results in an agreement that enables both sides to claim victory. In this case, however, there is only one winner and one side, because we all share the same commitment to building a better Columbia.
The administration recognizes the deep seriousness of the student strikers' commitment to institutional changes that will reduce the marginalization experienced by some of our communities and enhance inclusiveness for all.
The students recognize the strength of the administration's commitment to advancing change through the channels that represent the interests of the whole Columbia community.
We have worked hard together to bring these two imperatives into complementary relationship and we are confident we have succeeded.
Coming to this agreement has required a great amount of trust; trust that we must continue to build and sustain together.
The administration recognizes the deep seriousness of the student strikers' commitment to institutional changes that will reduce the marginalization experienced by some of our communities and enhance inclusiveness for all.
The students recognize the strength of the administration's commitment to advancing change through the channels that represent the interests of the whole Columbia community.
We have worked hard together to bring these two imperatives into complementary relationship and we are confident we have succeeded.
Coming to this agreement has required a great amount of trust; trust that we must continue to build and sustain together.
Press Release: Coalition to Preserve Community, 11/16/07
A response to CPC's concerns will be released shortly and presented at tonights vigil, 9pm at the sundial.
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***** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 11/16/07 *****
WEST HARLEM COMMUNITY GROUP ASKS HUNGER-STRIKING COLUMBIA STUDENTS TO WITHDRAW DEMAND REGARDING UNIVERSITY'S PROPOSED EXPANSION
Contact:
Tom DeMott: 917-969-0669
Nellie Bailey: 646-812-5188
Luis Tejada: 212 234-3002
Five days ago, on November 11, the Coalition to Preserve Community (CPC), a four-year old West Harlem community group opposing the Columbia University expansion plan, asked the Columbia students who had been on a hunger strike since Wednesday, November 7, to withdraw their demand that the University recall its 197C rezoning application. They rejected our request at that time, but today we are asking them again.
We do not want the students' health and welfare to be sacrificed in waiting on Columbia to engage in an honest dialogue and negotiation with the community on the rezoning application. For that to happen, President Bollinger and the Board of Trustees would have to respect the ten points raised by the Community Board as necessary to bring the Columbia plan into conformity with the community plan. The students are correct when they say that this could be accomplished, and they have done a great job bringing the true nature of Columbia's eviction plan out in the open, but we have all seen over the past five days that Columbia is stonewalling them, as it has stonewalled the community, on this issue.
The students attempted to focus in on six points concerning the expansion, and Columbia would not even make the basic commitment to negotiate a Community Benefits Agreement exclusively with the Local Development Corporation. This refusal reveals Columbia’s underhanded strategy of dealing with elected officials in back-door 11th-hour negotiations in order to circumvent the comprehensive demands developed on LDC committees by grassroots people. Columbia and its politicians want to sweep the work of community members under the rug and invent some last minute deal that will be put forth as purported "mitigation" of the devastation the Columbia plan will wreak in the community. The students should not starve themselves any longer trying to change this bought-and-paid-for scenario. It is clear that the fix is in regarding Manhattanville.
We have supported the advocacy efforts of the students on their other important demands for a democratic and inclusive education and those talks have been concluded. We will continue to work with them as we advocate for real community planning that does not cause displacement nor depend on the use of eminent domain.
Coalition members are extremely concerned for the well-being of the students. Having dealt with the Columbia administration for four years on its proposed expansion plans, the CPC is fully aware of Low Library's intransigence, deceitfulness, and cold-blooded ruthlessness. Accordingly, the CPC calls upon the students to withdraw their demand regarding Columbia's 197C application with its reliance on bulldozing a community and eminent domain and to concentrate on their other advocacy.
The striking students and their supporters will be conducting a vigil and press conference tonight at the sundial on the Columbia campus at Broadway and 116th Street.
---
***** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 11/16/07 *****
WEST HARLEM COMMUNITY GROUP ASKS HUNGER-STRIKING COLUMBIA STUDENTS TO WITHDRAW DEMAND REGARDING UNIVERSITY'S PROPOSED EXPANSION
Contact:
Tom DeMott: 917-969-0669
Nellie Bailey: 646-812-5188
Luis Tejada: 212 234-3002
Five days ago, on November 11, the Coalition to Preserve Community (CPC), a four-year old West Harlem community group opposing the Columbia University expansion plan, asked the Columbia students who had been on a hunger strike since Wednesday, November 7, to withdraw their demand that the University recall its 197C rezoning application. They rejected our request at that time, but today we are asking them again.
We do not want the students' health and welfare to be sacrificed in waiting on Columbia to engage in an honest dialogue and negotiation with the community on the rezoning application. For that to happen, President Bollinger and the Board of Trustees would have to respect the ten points raised by the Community Board as necessary to bring the Columbia plan into conformity with the community plan. The students are correct when they say that this could be accomplished, and they have done a great job bringing the true nature of Columbia's eviction plan out in the open, but we have all seen over the past five days that Columbia is stonewalling them, as it has stonewalled the community, on this issue.
The students attempted to focus in on six points concerning the expansion, and Columbia would not even make the basic commitment to negotiate a Community Benefits Agreement exclusively with the Local Development Corporation. This refusal reveals Columbia’s underhanded strategy of dealing with elected officials in back-door 11th-hour negotiations in order to circumvent the comprehensive demands developed on LDC committees by grassroots people. Columbia and its politicians want to sweep the work of community members under the rug and invent some last minute deal that will be put forth as purported "mitigation" of the devastation the Columbia plan will wreak in the community. The students should not starve themselves any longer trying to change this bought-and-paid-for scenario. It is clear that the fix is in regarding Manhattanville.
We have supported the advocacy efforts of the students on their other important demands for a democratic and inclusive education and those talks have been concluded. We will continue to work with them as we advocate for real community planning that does not cause displacement nor depend on the use of eminent domain.
Coalition members are extremely concerned for the well-being of the students. Having dealt with the Columbia administration for four years on its proposed expansion plans, the CPC is fully aware of Low Library's intransigence, deceitfulness, and cold-blooded ruthlessness. Accordingly, the CPC calls upon the students to withdraw their demand regarding Columbia's 197C application with its reliance on bulldozing a community and eminent domain and to concentrate on their other advocacy.
The striking students and their supporters will be conducting a vigil and press conference tonight at the sundial on the Columbia campus at Broadway and 116th Street.
Statement of Solidarity: Sakib Khan
Sakib Khan is an alum of Columbia University, former Chair of the Student Governing Board and former President of the Muslim Students Association.
---
As an alum of the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, I write in solidarity with those taking and supporting direct action. The need for direct action has been a long time coming, and I am inspired by the sacrifice of the strikers. They continue Columbia's proudest tradition, selflessly speaking truth to power, no matter the personal expense. I wish the expense was less, but in my experience and in the experience of countless others, the administrations of the University, Columbia College and the School of Engineering and Applied Science have, both jointly and separately, neglected to respect more conventional communication.
The University and its schools exercise their powers in a manner that systematically marginalizes people of color. Development powers, curricular powers, faculty-hiring and tenure-granting powers and student life powers are among those abused at the expense of neighbors, faculty, and students. The most troubling instance of this abuse of power might be the University's refusal to incorporate the principles of its neighbors' own plans for the future of Manhattanville. Here, the University chooses to unilaterally reject the community's rightful input on neighborhood development (197A) simply because land use laws allow marginalization. If expansion is to be successful, Columbia must invest in a campaign of inclusion and empowerment, not just capital.
None of these abuses--development, curricular, faculty hiring/tenure, student life--are intentional. However, the University and its schools have persisted without significantly changing their approach to power in the face of multiple race-related scandals each year for the last several years. The University and its schools have persisted without change in the face of 5 hate crimes in a 4 week span. The University and its schools have persisted without change in the face of local, national, and international media attention. Most importantly, the University and its schools have persisted without change in the face of years of cautioning, advocacy, negotiation, and protest by concerned neighbors, faculty, students and alumni. Their persistence is repulsive and unbecoming of a well-regarded institution.
However, without darkness, we would not know the light. Without obstacle, we would not learn the power of struggle. I hope that each of the strikers and their supporters takes time to reflect on the education they receive through struggle. Sadly, marginalized people coming together and taking direct action is a rare occurrence. It is among the most unique and valuable experiences they will have at
Columbia.
I pray that further escalation is not needed, but that if it proves necessary, then that it is brief and successful. I pray for the health, strength, and faith of all involved in making a more responsible and moral Columbia. God willing, their sacrifice will pay dividends for us all.
“Whosoever of you sees an evil action, let him correct it with his hand; and if he is not able to do so, then with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart." -Prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon him)
Peace to you all,
Sakib Khan SEAS '07
---
As an alum of the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, I write in solidarity with those taking and supporting direct action. The need for direct action has been a long time coming, and I am inspired by the sacrifice of the strikers. They continue Columbia's proudest tradition, selflessly speaking truth to power, no matter the personal expense. I wish the expense was less, but in my experience and in the experience of countless others, the administrations of the University, Columbia College and the School of Engineering and Applied Science have, both jointly and separately, neglected to respect more conventional communication.
The University and its schools exercise their powers in a manner that systematically marginalizes people of color. Development powers, curricular powers, faculty-hiring and tenure-granting powers and student life powers are among those abused at the expense of neighbors, faculty, and students. The most troubling instance of this abuse of power might be the University's refusal to incorporate the principles of its neighbors' own plans for the future of Manhattanville. Here, the University chooses to unilaterally reject the community's rightful input on neighborhood development (197A) simply because land use laws allow marginalization. If expansion is to be successful, Columbia must invest in a campaign of inclusion and empowerment, not just capital.
None of these abuses--development, curricular, faculty hiring/tenure, student life--are intentional. However, the University and its schools have persisted without significantly changing their approach to power in the face of multiple race-related scandals each year for the last several years. The University and its schools have persisted without change in the face of 5 hate crimes in a 4 week span. The University and its schools have persisted without change in the face of local, national, and international media attention. Most importantly, the University and its schools have persisted without change in the face of years of cautioning, advocacy, negotiation, and protest by concerned neighbors, faculty, students and alumni. Their persistence is repulsive and unbecoming of a well-regarded institution.
However, without darkness, we would not know the light. Without obstacle, we would not learn the power of struggle. I hope that each of the strikers and their supporters takes time to reflect on the education they receive through struggle. Sadly, marginalized people coming together and taking direct action is a rare occurrence. It is among the most unique and valuable experiences they will have at
Columbia.
I pray that further escalation is not needed, but that if it proves necessary, then that it is brief and successful. I pray for the health, strength, and faith of all involved in making a more responsible and moral Columbia. God willing, their sacrifice will pay dividends for us all.
“Whosoever of you sees an evil action, let him correct it with his hand; and if he is not able to do so, then with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart." -Prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon him)
Peace to you all,
Sakib Khan SEAS '07
Statement of Solidarity: The Equal Rights and Access Committee of the Graduate Employees and Students Organization (Yale)
As the Equal Rights and Access Standing Committee of the graduate teachers union at Yale University, we support your struggle to hold Columbia accountable to the principles of equality and respect for all people inside and outside the institution. We, like you, wonder whether universities (must) perpetuate the systems of oppression that they claim to challenge. You challenge Columbia to confront their role in, as you put it, "a world in which racist, gendered, and sexualized hierarchies dominate the way power flows." Your demands for curricular and thus intellectual change articulate the way in which the knowledge produced in and by universities enables these harmful actions. We draw inspiration from your willingness to take direct
action to institute greater democracy on your campus.
Your struggle also speaks to other universities. Like you, we face a university that plays an increasingly dominant political and economic role in its host community and seeks to reshape it in its own image. This manifests in the forms of escalating gentrification and policing. Our administration, like yours has disregarded the voice of students, workers, community members, and faculty, and has failed to address the systemic discrimination that exists on our campus. We at Yale are also confronting articulations of white supremacy. The noose at Columbia manifests through hateful graffiti at Yale. Your example assists in providing encouragement for us.
We thank you for your determination, and most of all, your vision.
In solidarity and hope,
The Equal Rights and Access Committee of the Graduate Employees and Students Organization (GESO)
Yale University, New Haven, CT
action to institute greater democracy on your campus.
Your struggle also speaks to other universities. Like you, we face a university that plays an increasingly dominant political and economic role in its host community and seeks to reshape it in its own image. This manifests in the forms of escalating gentrification and policing. Our administration, like yours has disregarded the voice of students, workers, community members, and faculty, and has failed to address the systemic discrimination that exists on our campus. We at Yale are also confronting articulations of white supremacy. The noose at Columbia manifests through hateful graffiti at Yale. Your example assists in providing encouragement for us.
We thank you for your determination, and most of all, your vision.
In solidarity and hope,
The Equal Rights and Access Committee of the Graduate Employees and Students Organization (GESO)
Yale University, New Haven, CT
Words from the Negotiation Team
Yesterday we, the negotiators, met with Maxine Griffith, Executive Vice President of Government and Community Affairs, to receive her responses on the points of compromise that we had presented the day before. To our great disappointment, the meeting was characterized by a disturbing incident of excluding the greater community, and a complete lack of progress on any of the issues under discussion.
Columbia
Columbia
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Statement of Solidarity: Prof. Gary Y. Okihiro
Please convey my support of the student strikers in their demands for equity and justice. It is unfortunate when students, who are at Columbia and Barnard for an education, must themselves educate their professors, Columbia's/Barnard's administrators, and their fellow students about the importance, nay necessity of a more democratic, responsible, and inclusive university, college, curriculum, and climate. The struggle continues.
Gary Y. Okihiro
Professor of International and Public Affairs
Gary Y. Okihiro
Professor of International and Public Affairs
Statement of Solidarity: Prof. Robin D.G. Kelley
I’m writing in support of student demands for a change in the core curriculum, administrative reform, support for a stronger, expanded and more autonomous Ethnic Studies program, and a more equitable and just policy toward communities in Harlem. These demands grow out of years of thinking and struggle on Columbia’s campus, dating back at least to the formation of Ethnic Studies eleven years ago, if not before. Indeed, during my brief tenure on the faculty at Columbia University, I recall spending most of my time battling on these same fronts—attending meetings “re-thinking” the core curriculum; trying to get faculty and students to understand how Columbia’s expansion plan into West Harlem will destroy local communities; figuring out how to keep CSER afloat on a miniscule budget, mostly junior faculty, and no authority to make unilateral appointments. And, of course, we dealt with racist, sexist, and homophobic incidents on campus.
I do hope everyone—the administration, the faculty, and students who might be reluctant to support the strike—understands that the hunger strikes and the movement of which they are a part are offering a vision that would make Columbia University a better place. In struggle they have created a blueprint for what all institutions of learning (higher or otherwise) ought to aspire to be. And that is, a safe place for all students irrespective of difference, a place where knowledge is expansive and challenging, a place that engages, supports and partners with it’s neighbors rather than steam rolls over them, and an institution that places social justice at its core.
Robin D. G. Kelley
Professor of History and American Studies and Ethnicity
University of Southern California
I do hope everyone—the administration, the faculty, and students who might be reluctant to support the strike—understands that the hunger strikes and the movement of which they are a part are offering a vision that would make Columbia University a better place. In struggle they have created a blueprint for what all institutions of learning (higher or otherwise) ought to aspire to be. And that is, a safe place for all students irrespective of difference, a place where knowledge is expansive and challenging, a place that engages, supports and partners with it’s neighbors rather than steam rolls over them, and an institution that places social justice at its core.
Robin D. G. Kelley
Professor of History and American Studies and Ethnicity
University of Southern California
Statement of Solidarity: Progressive Jewish Alliance
"Is not this the fast I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of tyranny,
to set the oppressed free and shatter all bondage?" (Is. 58:6)
The Progressive Jewish Alliance stands in solidarity with the braveColumbia
to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of tyranny,
to set the oppressed free and shatter all bondage?" (Is. 58:6)
The Progressive Jewish Alliance stands in solidarity with the brave
Press Release: Thursday, November 15, 2007
*** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***
Contact: David Judd, Student Organizer, davidajudd@gmail.com, 646.326.0944
Columbia University West Harlem .
Columbia Harlem residents expected to result. Four other students, Victoria Ruiz, CC '09, April Simpson, CC '11, Rich Brown, CC '10, and Sam Barron, BC '10, will continue to refrain from eating until the university revises its expansion plans to bring them in line with Harlem community needs, as expressed in Community Board 9's 197-a plan.
Bryan
Columbia
Contact: David Judd, Student Organizer, davidajudd@gmail.com, 646.326.0944
Statement of Solidarity: United Asian American Organizations, University of Michgan
The United Asian American Organizations (UAAO) at the University of Michigan stands in full solidarity with the hunger strikers at Columbia University. UAAO is a political coalition of 37 Asian American student groups, established to work in unity to provide education on issues facing Asian/Pacific Islander Americans, to promote awareness of Asian/Pacific Islander American cultures, and to serve as a communication core for Asian/Pacific Islander American organizations and individuals.
Since the founding of the first Ethnic Studies programs in late 1960s and on, faculty and students have continuously faced institutional challenges. We struggle to uphold the principles Ethnic Studies was founded on, the right to education, to redirect resources at higher education institution to our communities, and to connect with the grassroots movements. We have received backlashes at traditional, elite institutions. Our Studies has become inaccessible and academic because of the traditional framework of higher education. Our services to our communities are not valued, quantified or qualified for the "standards," made by people who intend to shake our beliefs, who want us to abandon the movements that have preceded us and will come after us.
As students of color in Michigan, we share the same struggles as students at Columbia University. Our faculty of color, not only in Ethnic Studies but across in various departments and disciplines, are being let go one by one. The same reasons are told to us each time we request an explanation: the faculty member's research is not qualified, given the context of the prestigious research institution; their work focuses on the community, not on research that allows the university to continuously be perceived prestigiously; their research only concerns a small minority group, not the society at large. These reasons only raise more questions: Who are the people who set the standards? Who decides what is prestigious and what is not? And furthermore, why should one be punished, not rewarded, for spending tremendous amount of time and effort in the community, outside of one's research facility?
The colonialism existing in the traditional academia framework greatly hurts students. If Columbia University claims to embrace diversity and freedom, then the diversity cannot be validated solely by having students of color on campus. The administration needs to recognize that diversity goes beyond numbers and community input is crucial in improving campus climate. The curriculum needs to be diversified, allowing knowledge in different fields, including Ethnic Studies, which promotes knowledge that has been traditionally suppressed because of colonialism. Students have the right to learn about the history and importance of people of color in building this country, founded on colonial principles. Students have the right to demand the university's support for acquiring such knowledge, if the university truly embraces diversity.
United Asian American Organizations Board
Eric Li, Co-Chair
C.C. Song, Co-Chair
Anisha Mangalick, Advocacy
George Dong, Community Historian
Katherine Takai, External Relations
Ashley Manzano, Internal Relations
Jeff Meng, Finance
Vivian Tao, Programming
Ravi Bodepudi, Service
Since the founding of the first Ethnic Studies programs in late 1960s and on, faculty and students have continuously faced institutional challenges. We struggle to uphold the principles Ethnic Studies was founded on, the right to education, to redirect resources at higher education institution to our communities, and to connect with the grassroots movements. We have received backlashes at traditional, elite institutions. Our Studies has become inaccessible and academic because of the traditional framework of higher education. Our services to our communities are not valued, quantified or qualified for the "standards," made by people who intend to shake our beliefs, who want us to abandon the movements that have preceded us and will come after us.
As students of color in Michigan, we share the same struggles as students at Columbia University. Our faculty of color, not only in Ethnic Studies but across in various departments and disciplines, are being let go one by one. The same reasons are told to us each time we request an explanation: the faculty member's research is not qualified, given the context of the prestigious research institution; their work focuses on the community, not on research that allows the university to continuously be perceived prestigiously; their research only concerns a small minority group, not the society at large. These reasons only raise more questions: Who are the people who set the standards? Who decides what is prestigious and what is not? And furthermore, why should one be punished, not rewarded, for spending tremendous amount of time and effort in the community, outside of one's research facility?
The colonialism existing in the traditional academia framework greatly hurts students. If Columbia University claims to embrace diversity and freedom, then the diversity cannot be validated solely by having students of color on campus. The administration needs to recognize that diversity goes beyond numbers and community input is crucial in improving campus climate. The curriculum needs to be diversified, allowing knowledge in different fields, including Ethnic Studies, which promotes knowledge that has been traditionally suppressed because of colonialism. Students have the right to learn about the history and importance of people of color in building this country, founded on colonial principles. Students have the right to demand the university's support for acquiring such knowledge, if the university truly embraces diversity.
United Asian American Organizations Board
Eric Li, Co-Chair
C.C. Song, Co-Chair
Anisha Mangalick, Advocacy
George Dong, Community Historian
Katherine Takai, External Relations
Ashley Manzano, Internal Relations
Jeff Meng, Finance
Vivian Tao, Programming
Ravi Bodepudi, Service
Student Power
Pictures from the 11/14 vigial at the Sundial, rally at Hamilton and march around campus:
Words from the Negotiation Team: 11/15/07
We are pleased to announce that after a day of great adversity, we have emerged with significant victories on many of our demands and a clear vision of what student power can accomplish. What began with administration threats to cut off all further negotiations and an ultimatum to end the strike by midnight ended with explicit concessions on the Core Curriculum, administrative reform, and support for ethnic studies. The struggle continues unabated around issues surrounding the university's expansion into West Harlem, which has as of yet not been addressed in a substantive fashion.
Hundreds of students packed the campus in a peaceful but boisterous demonstration that decried the university's decision to cut off civil negotiations and resort to threats of force, rallying around Hamilton Hall where administrative deliberations were taking place. As public safety guarded the doors to the building, students and community leaders demanded that the administration continue the negotiation until all issues were satisfactorily addressed. The crowd swelled in size and a continuing lack of communication with administration sources threatened to escalate the situation. Finally, we received communication from the administration that the hunger strike would continue undisturbed, that specific commitments on funding for the transition of Major Cultures to a seminar format and the expansion of the Office of Multicultural Affairs were made, that disciplinary penalties on hunger strikers would not be levied, and that negotiations for the expansion would continue.
As these victories were announced to the assembled crowd, sentiment changed from anger to elation. Scores of people remained at the Sundial discussing the advances of the evening and the necessary steps to follow. While students rejoiced in their triumph, they remained fully aware that much work is left to be done in negotiations on the expansion plan.
As the hunger strike enters its ninth day, students' resolve remains firm on the expansion demands. While the fundamental demand remains that Columbia respect the democratic voice of Community Board 9 and withdraw its 197-c plan to rezone Manhattanville, we have presented six points to Executive Vice President Maxine Griffith which represent a reasonable progression to the negotiation process. To date, we have received no response and no commitment from the administration.
Significant advances have been made, but much remains to be resolved until students return to their daily lives. The victories of the day show what power students organizing for justice can have. Today more than ever, the struggle continues.
- The Strike Committee
---------
The points presented to the administration are detailed below.
Point 1 – Columbia has a responsibility, as stated in the EIS, to mitigate the impact caused by the proposed actions. The body with which the university has committed to negotiating with is the West Harlem Local Development Corporation. However, the university has also reached agreements with other entities on issues of community benefits, most recently and prominently Borough President Scott Stringer, who has a representative on the LDC body. We demand that the University commit to, in writing and on the record, negotiating community benefits exclusively with the LDC, excluding any separate agreements with individual politicians, including but not limited to those politicians represented on the LDC.
Point 2 – The agreement reached with Borough President Stringer is problematic on many levels. First, demand a clarification on what exactly is proposed. Is it a loan or a grant? When does the money get transferred and how does that happen?
Secondly, with an estimate of $200,000 per creation of each affordable unit, this would create 100 units in an area with 5,035 people living in unsubsidized housing. This is an extremely low floor in negotiating an anti-displacement program with the LDC, especially given the cost and potential profit of the project. The students demand that a far more significant commitment to affordable housing be a part of any agreement with the LDC and that Columbia come to the board with a number that mitigates the full effect of its project.
Point 3 – Columbia has pledged officially to relocated the tenants living under the TIL program to equivalent housing. This is a positive step. We demand that any relocation occur as a result of direct agreement with the tenant affected and not through an agreement of property transfer with any city agency or outside entity.
Point 4 – Columbia needs to take eminent domain off the table for the commercial property-owners in the area and reach agreements with them on an individual basis, even if that implies that they are to stay there in a revised development scenario.
Point 5 – Using funding specifically earmarked for the expansion plans or fundraised independently of existing efforts, Columbia should develop and financially empower those parts of the university that provide community programming. The university should provide resources for the development of new programs in the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race, the Institute for Research in African-American Studies, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Double Discovery Center, Community Impact and other university institutions that would provide services for both students and community members.
Point 6 – Columbia is one of the foremost educational institutions in the country and the world. As part of its expansion, we feel that the university has a responsibility to the community it is effecting, not merely to its own constituency. This responsibility is profound and goes beyond the Secondary School proposal. Students demand that local students be granted access to Columbia resources, including libraries and course auditing privileges. We also call for a scholarship admission program for CB9 residents, and for a comprehensive educational complex that would serve the community's needs, including not only K-12 education but also an infant and pre-K school, a health clinic, and an adult education service. This should be funded directly by the university. The university's resources are vast and can be shared more broadly.
Hundreds of students packed the campus in a peaceful but boisterous demonstration that decried the university's decision to cut off civil negotiations and resort to threats of force, rallying around Hamilton Hall where administrative deliberations were taking place. As public safety guarded the doors to the building, students and community leaders demanded that the administration continue the negotiation until all issues were satisfactorily addressed. The crowd swelled in size and a continuing lack of communication with administration sources threatened to escalate the situation. Finally, we received communication from the administration that the hunger strike would continue undisturbed, that specific commitments on funding for the transition of Major Cultures to a seminar format and the expansion of the Office of Multicultural Affairs were made, that disciplinary penalties on hunger strikers would not be levied, and that negotiations for the expansion would continue.
As these victories were announced to the assembled crowd, sentiment changed from anger to elation. Scores of people remained at the Sundial discussing the advances of the evening and the necessary steps to follow. While students rejoiced in their triumph, they remained fully aware that much work is left to be done in negotiations on the expansion plan.
As the hunger strike enters its ninth day, students' resolve remains firm on the expansion demands. While the fundamental demand remains that Columbia respect the democratic voice of Community Board 9 and withdraw its 197-c plan to rezone Manhattanville, we have presented six points to Executive Vice President Maxine Griffith which represent a reasonable progression to the negotiation process. To date, we have received no response and no commitment from the administration.
Significant advances have been made, but much remains to be resolved until students return to their daily lives. The victories of the day show what power students organizing for justice can have. Today more than ever, the struggle continues.
- The Strike Committee
---------
The points presented to the administration are detailed below.
Point 1 – Columbia has a responsibility, as stated in the EIS, to mitigate the impact caused by the proposed actions. The body with which the university has committed to negotiating with is the West Harlem Local Development Corporation. However, the university has also reached agreements with other entities on issues of community benefits, most recently and prominently Borough President Scott Stringer, who has a representative on the LDC body. We demand that the University commit to, in writing and on the record, negotiating community benefits exclusively with the LDC, excluding any separate agreements with individual politicians, including but not limited to those politicians represented on the LDC.
Point 2 – The agreement reached with Borough President Stringer is problematic on many levels. First, demand a clarification on what exactly is proposed. Is it a loan or a grant? When does the money get transferred and how does that happen?
Secondly, with an estimate of $200,000 per creation of each affordable unit, this would create 100 units in an area with 5,035 people living in unsubsidized housing. This is an extremely low floor in negotiating an anti-displacement program with the LDC, especially given the cost and potential profit of the project. The students demand that a far more significant commitment to affordable housing be a part of any agreement with the LDC and that Columbia come to the board with a number that mitigates the full effect of its project.
Point 3 – Columbia has pledged officially to relocated the tenants living under the TIL program to equivalent housing. This is a positive step. We demand that any relocation occur as a result of direct agreement with the tenant affected and not through an agreement of property transfer with any city agency or outside entity.
Point 4 – Columbia needs to take eminent domain off the table for the commercial property-owners in the area and reach agreements with them on an individual basis, even if that implies that they are to stay there in a revised development scenario.
Point 5 – Using funding specifically earmarked for the expansion plans or fundraised independently of existing efforts, Columbia should develop and financially empower those parts of the university that provide community programming. The university should provide resources for the development of new programs in the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race, the Institute for Research in African-American Studies, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Double Discovery Center, Community Impact and other university institutions that would provide services for both students and community members.
Point 6 – Columbia is one of the foremost educational institutions in the country and the world. As part of its expansion, we feel that the university has a responsibility to the community it is effecting, not merely to its own constituency. This responsibility is profound and goes beyond the Secondary School proposal. Students demand that local students be granted access to Columbia resources, including libraries and course auditing privileges. We also call for a scholarship admission program for CB9 residents, and for a comprehensive educational complex that would serve the community's needs, including not only K-12 education but also an infant and pre-K school, a health clinic, and an adult education service. This should be funded directly by the university. The university's resources are vast and can be shared more broadly.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Press Release: Wednesday, November 14, 2007
*** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***
Contact: Jamie Chen, Student Organizer, eimajine@gmail.com, 240.305.7628
RALLY, NOVEMBER 15, 2007, 12 NOON at the Sundial at
The administration has committed, subject to approval by the Task Force on Undergraduate Education, to raising fifty million dollars in order to staff a seminar format for the non-Western portion of the Core Curriculum. Currently, every other Humanities requirement in the Core is taught in capped seminar format. Administrators will also put out a call for proposals from faculty for new courses for the Core Curriculum.
The administration has agreed to raise funds for the expansion of the Office of Multicultural Affairs, to the extent recommended by a review by a consultant firm. Administrators offered a blueprint for student involvement in the academic review committee for the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race, which will decide the future of the Center. Finally, administrators guaranteed that there will be no disciplinary action brought against any hunger striker.
In the late afternoon, administrators issued a demand that two student hunger strikers end their eight day demonstration, or be forced on medical leave for the remainder of the semester. Administrators further threatened that if strikers did not accept a specific set of proposals offered at 7pm, the administration would walk out of negotiations.
While these threats hung in the air, at 9pm, approximately two hundred students gathered for a previously scheduled vigil. Upon hearing the administration's position, students spontaneously formed a rally and marched across campus, gathering in front of Hamilton Hall, where administrators were convened. Hamilton Hall has been the location of student sit-ins several times in the last decades. At this point, the administration resumed negotiations.
Outstanding demands of the coalition of students and faculty include a critical revision of
A larger rally is scheduled for Thursday at noon, to coincide with a luncheon between administrators and major donors to the university.
Statement of Support: General Studies Student Council
STATEMENT OF SUPPORT FOR THE HUNGER STRIKE
FROM THE GENERAL STUDIES STUDENT COUNCIL
We, the undersigned members of the General Studies Student Council, wish to affirm our support for progress within our Columbia community. At this moment, four students from Columbia and Barnard Colleges are engaged in a sincere and serious act of protest against racist and prejudicial practices, activities, and words. They have chosen a hunger strike as a tactic of last resort because they feel systematically marginalized by the administration. Our concern is for the health of our fellow students regarding the marginalization of their voices. We therefore stand in solidarity with our fellow students in their efforts to eliminate some of the myriad forms of racism, sexism, homophobia, ethnocentrism, ageism, and elitism found within our campus. Just as the administration has a responsibility to engage in fruitful dialog with the strikers, so too does the student body have an obligation to critically engage with the concerns proposed by the student strikers. The scope of the issues brought forth by the groups involved pertain to all.
For these reasons, we stand in solidarity with the hunger strike and with all who seek progress within our academic community. The kind of nourishment our fellow students need is that of support. To that end, we humbly offer this statement and hope that our campus will move in a progressive direction as a result of the efforts of these dedicated students.
Jacob Matilsky
Allen Settle
Karly Curcio
Nancy Saunders
Nicolle Rountree
Eleanor Colley
Monique Long
Ishmael Osekre
Keith Hightower
Raul Wikkeling
Elizabeth Alonso-Hallifax
Jay Kim
Todd Murphy
Helena Lellis
Ashley Forman
Brendan Rooney
Brody Berg
Niko Cunningham
FROM THE GENERAL STUDIES STUDENT COUNCIL
We, the undersigned members of the General Studies Student Council, wish to affirm our support for progress within our Columbia community. At this moment, four students from Columbia and Barnard Colleges are engaged in a sincere and serious act of protest against racist and prejudicial practices, activities, and words. They have chosen a hunger strike as a tactic of last resort because they feel systematically marginalized by the administration. Our concern is for the health of our fellow students regarding the marginalization of their voices. We therefore stand in solidarity with our fellow students in their efforts to eliminate some of the myriad forms of racism, sexism, homophobia, ethnocentrism, ageism, and elitism found within our campus. Just as the administration has a responsibility to engage in fruitful dialog with the strikers, so too does the student body have an obligation to critically engage with the concerns proposed by the student strikers. The scope of the issues brought forth by the groups involved pertain to all.
For these reasons, we stand in solidarity with the hunger strike and with all who seek progress within our academic community. The kind of nourishment our fellow students need is that of support. To that end, we humbly offer this statement and hope that our campus will move in a progressive direction as a result of the efforts of these dedicated students.
Jacob Matilsky
Allen Settle
Karly Curcio
Nancy Saunders
Nicolle Rountree
Eleanor Colley
Monique Long
Ishmael Osekre
Keith Hightower
Raul Wikkeling
Elizabeth Alonso-Hallifax
Jay Kim
Todd Murphy
Helena Lellis
Ashley Forman
Brendan Rooney
Brody Berg
Niko Cunningham
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