“We name for the reversal of pupil suspensions and for departments to refuse to adjust to college investigations or sanctions of scholars and workers collaborating in non-violent political motion.”
[Philosophy Hall, Columbia University]
Present graduate college students within the Division of Philosophy at Columbia College, in addition to alumni of its graduate program, a few of whom are professors elsewhere, have launched an announcement concerning the protests which were happening on the college this month.
College students at Columbia have been protesting Israel’s response to Hamas’s October seventh assault. A few days into the protest, Columbia College President Minouche Shafik suspended college students collaborating in them and licensed the New York Police Division to arrest protestors. Over 100 folks have been arrested.
Within the assertion the Columbia philosophy college students “unequivocally condemn President Minouche Shafik’s determination” and demand “the reversal of pupil suspensions and for departments to refuse to adjust to college investigations or sanctions of scholars and workers collaborating in non-violent political motion.” Additionally they “name on the Columbia administration to decide to by no means once more name police onto campus to suppress pupil speech.”
Right here’s the complete textual content and signatories:
Assertion on Latest Occasions from Graduate College students and Alumni of the Division of Philosophy at Columbia College
We, present and former graduate college students of the Division of Philosophy at Columbia College, are appalled on the determination taken on April 18th by the College President to violate rules of educational freedom and free speech by authorizing the forcible removing and arrest of 108 of our college students and colleagues.
On April 18th, the President of Columbia College, within the title of “security,” introduced armed police into our campus to make use of bodily pressure in opposition to college students who had established a non-violent encampment in support of Palestine on Columbia’s South Lawn. The encampment didn’t disrupt lessons. It didn’t block entry to campus or buildings. However, the police have been referred to as in after solely a day. The President took this motion in opposition to the advice of the College Senate, violating rules of shared governance established within the wake of the 1968 protests. Because of these arrests and suspensions, college students have sustained accidents, misplaced entry to Columbia well being companies, and been evicted from pupil housing with lower than quarter-hour to assemble their belongings.
This adopted months of tensions at Columbia for the reason that horrifying occasions of October 7th and the devastating aftermath. These occasions have been the subject of inauspicious and traumatizing dialogue. Columbia’s administration may have responded by promoting dialogue and mutual understanding. As an alternative, the administration closely restricted speech on campus and disproportionately acted to silence one voice specifically – the voice of these protesting in opposition to the continued oppression and killing of Palestinians. It was on this atmosphere of institutional repression that the coed protesters determined to take motion.
The College’s determination to arrest pupil protesters was thus the fruits of months of restriction in opposition to the general public expression of assist for Palestinians. The previous few years have seen an alarming development of dangerous religion political actors attempting to silence political speech they disagree with by policing academic institutions, thereby undermining elementary rules of educational autonomy. Columbia’s Board of Trustees has demonstrated extra curiosity in appeasing these exterior forces than responding to the wants of their college students, as have the administrations of different universities. We’ve got witnessed the actions of police at different faculty campuses the place professors are thrown to the ground and department chairs are dragged away in zip ties. No matter the place we stand on the problem of Israel and Palestine, we should always all agree that such makes an attempt to suppress discourse are totally unacceptable in any first rate society dedicated to liberal rules.
As educators, we consider that it’s our particular duty to talk out when the College denies college students the precise to freely pursue their schooling. And as philosophers, we have now an obligation to uphold the values of free thought and open discourse, simply as Sidney Morgenbesser and different members of our division did in 1968.
We subsequently unequivocally condemn President Minouche Shafik’s determination. We name for the reversal of pupil suspensions and for departments to refuse to adjust to college investigations or sanctions of scholars and workers collaborating in non-violent political motion. We oppose additional efforts from the administration to forcibly take away the brand new encampment, and name on the Columbia administration to decide to by no means once more name police onto campus to suppress pupil speech. The very best path ahead, in our view, is for the administration to proceed to negotiate with the representatives of Columbia College Apartheid Divest in good religion and with out additional threats.
Signed,
Present graduate college students and alumni of the Division of Philosophy at Columbia College
Up to date Checklist of Signatures:
Ola Aksnes (Graduate Scholar)
Noah Betz-Richman (Graduate Scholar)
Michael Brent (Alum)
Ellen Nora Burns (Graduate Scholar)
Samara Burns (Graduate Scholar)
César Cabezas (Alum)
Qian Cao (Graduate Scholar)
Bard Money (Graduate Scholar)
Might Chen (Alum)
Lisa Clark (Graduate Scholar)
Conor Cullen (Lecturer, Alum)
Rivka Chuyun Dai (Graduate Scholar)
Amelle Djemel (Visiting Scholar)
Beibei Du (Graduate Scholar)
Nemira Gasiunas-Kopp (Alum)
Justin Xingzhi Guo (Graduate Scholar)
Joe Hamilton (Graduate Scholar)
Thimo Heisenberg (Alum)
Yarran Hominh (Alum)
Yitu Hu (Graduate Scholar)
Ethan Jacobs (Graduate Scholar)
Ye-Eun Jeong (Graduate Scholar)
Alex Jensen (Graduate Scholar)
Jared Jones (Graduate Scholar)
Brittany Koffer (Lecturer, Alum)
Anya Leinberger (Graduate Scholar)
Lisa Liu (Graduate Scholar)
Helen Han Wei Luo (Graduate Scholar)
Eleonora Maccarone (Alum)
Laura Martin (Alum)
Cornelia Mayer (Graduate Scholar)
William McCarthy (Alum)
Katharine McIntyre (Alum)
Devin Morse (Graduate Scholar)
Fred Neuhouser (Alum)
Andreja Novakovic (Alum)
Ignacio Ojea (Alum)
Shivani Radhakrishnan (Alum)
Danielle Alma Ravitzki (Graduate Scholar)
Andrew Richmond (Alum)
Melissa Rees (Alum)
Amogh Sahu (Graduate Scholar)
Weiming Sheng (Graduate Scholar)
Xinyi Tune (Graduate Scholar)
Mariam Sousou (Graduate Scholar)
Sapphire Qiaochu Tang (Graduate Scholar)
Nandi Theunissen (Alum)
Chuyu Tian (Graduate Scholar)
Naser Tizhoosh (Graduate Scholar)
Aaron Xiaolong Wang (Graduate Scholar)
Sara Wexler (Graduate Scholar)
Philip Yaure (Alum)
Chi Zhang (Graduate Scholar)
