Updates for Our Community
Calls for Violence Have No Place at Columbia
(Revised 10/9/24)
Statements advocating for violence or harm are antithetical to the core principles upon which this institution was founded. This has seemed so fundamental that it did not require saying; to hear such things in our community is an aberration, whether or not protected by the First Amendment. We must be clear: calls for violence have no place at this or any university.
As educators and stewards of a university community committed to intellectual freedom and moral integrity, we stand together on this foundational matter. As university leaders, we represent our values and model the non-violent norms that anchor our mission.
We aspire to be an open campus but cannot be open while we are uncertain of safety. The trade-offs, between the safety of our students, faculty, and staff and the ideal of a campus porous to the city, are real. This week, with social media mixing calls for armed violence in the Middle East with defenses of local statements calling for violence, the balance tips to safety.
As leaders of Columbia University, we stand against any calls for violence.
Interim President Armstrong, Provost Olinto, and the Executive Committee of the University Senate
Update for Our Community, October 5, 2024
(8:13 AM)
As we begin October, we want to provide another update on our approach to protests and demonstrations and how we are continuing to improve our ability to support and manage them consistent with our mission and principles. Our effort is an essential part of how we advance our educational and research mission, safeguard free expression and open debate, and ensure a safe, respectful campus environment for our community.
Our decisions about managing protests are rooted in our commitment to Columbia’s academic mission and the safety of our community and our neighbors and guided by the Rules of University Conduct, the associated Guidelines, and relevant University policies. As interim President Armstrong said in her message on September 5, “our Rules have been devised with this balance in mind, and we are committed to applying them fairly and to responding to issues in the moment with thought and care.”
This approach requires establishing expectations beforehand and engaged decision-making on the ground. Both involve deep consultation with key stakeholders before, during and after protests. University Delegates and the Rules Administrator play key roles in ensuring that we implement effectively the Guidelines and Rules of University Conduct. Information about both roles can be found on the University Senate’s Rules of University Conduct Committee web page.
One key responsibility is to find ways to allow for protest and counter-protest in a manner that ensures safety and helps participants to avoid violating the Rules of University Conduct. We appreciate the University Senate’s update to its FAQ on the Guidelines to the Rules of University Conduct, which clarify that University Delegates have discretion to create separate areas or relocate demonstrators to avoid physical conflict. The FAQs also notes that, in managing the delineation of space between separate groups of demonstrators, Delegates should proceed without regard to the content or viewpoint of the protestors’ expression. As part of our responsibility to adhere to these Guidelines, we are continuing to recommend that protestors use specific assigned spaces, often lawns, where we are best able to provide public safety support and equivalent space for protest and counter-protest.
Recognizing the potential of amplified sound to disrupt academic and other university activities, we continue to improve our approach to assessing the impact of amplified sound. We are exploring the feasibility and reliability of several ways to assess such disruption. We seek to understand, in real time, the number of buildings, classes, and residences within range of sound disruption, the level of noise, the use of specific sound equipment that may either ameliorate or exacerbate disruption, and the duration of the use of amplified sound.
In addition, we continue to develop ways to apply University policies equitably and fairly, without regard to content or viewpoint, respecting the importance of the Rules of University Conduct and the Guidelines to the Rules. As we have discussed with many groups over the last two days, the intent of the outdoor space policy—which regulates the use of common space on campus—is to include all hardscape objects on campus, allowing the space to be managed in a content-neutral manner. Consistent application of this policy is important to ensure that various uses of outdoor objects are not treated differently depending upon the viewpoint of the expression. In addition, the risk of physical damage to outdoor objects from unapproved use remains an important concern we seek to mitigate.
Consultation with members of the University Senate, faculty and decanal leadership, has been critical for informing this approach; we look forward to continuing and expanding these important discussions in the days and weeks to come. We will also seek intellectual opportunities to think together in light of the significant scholarship on the public life of symbols in multiple contexts and historical moments.
Over the next weeks, in addition to continuing to improve our ability to manage protests and demonstrations, we are deeply committed to supporting all students and student groups in their efforts to create special events and vigils that are aligned with those policies and approaches. Information about those processes can be found on the University Event Management resources for students web page and the University Policies web page for a Vigil on Campus.
We are committed to learning continually from experience as the school year starts, while making sure we are hewing to our principles every step of the way. We look ahead to continued close consultation with the University Senate and the faculty, and working with the community on clarifying and simplifying our approach and our policies moving forward.
Update for Our Community, October 6, 2024
(Revised 10/7/24, 12:23 AM)
Dear Colleagues,
I am writing to update you on our current situation on campus, our understanding of what different groups are planning given the significance of the week ahead, and our preparations to support you and the Columbia community.
As I expressed in my message last week, we anticipated and have been preparing for a period of uncertainty in the coming days. Over the last few days, and particularly the last 24 hours, there has been rapidly increasing evidence that the Morningside campus is a major focus for protest and other activity. We have several student groups planning for special events and non-violent protests and are working diligently to support those plans with public safety and delegate support. At the same time, we have also learned and had evidence of plans of groups not affiliated with Columbia choosing to come to our Morningside campus for activities that raise concern about the potential for violence. We understand that there has been a call for a walkout as part of a larger protest effort across New York City. This walkout was not notified through the process established by the Guidelines to the Rules of University Conduct. We continue to implement public safety measures to plan for every eventuality. We take those concerns with extreme seriousness.
Because of this information and in line with our responsibility for the safety of our campus community, we are taking several immediate steps to ensure that our campus can continue to carry out our academic mission, particularly in the classroom. First, for today and tomorrow (October 6 - 7) and possibly later into the week, we are no longer accepting the QR codes generated when guest access to the Morningside campus is requested and will be working closely with leadership across the schools and programs to determine where guest access is critical for our academic mission. We are also working on revising the automated system so that it can be used again. Anyone who is not a current employee or student is considered guest for this purpose. We are also working to develop approaches for student groups who were hoping to have meetings with guests on Morningside campus at other locations and to provide support for all our students to see their family and friends at this challenging time.
Second, we will be increasing the public safety presence across campus for the next three days. We are all eager to get back to an environment where that is not needed and appreciate the challenges that widespread public safety presence can create for our community and the wellbeing of individuals within that community. We will also be using traditional approaches to guide people tomorrow to ensure the appropriate safe locations for protest and counter-protest for public safety. We expect that there will be more dividers and barricades than are commonly seen on campus and will have public safety on site to help with guidance in the moment. I am learning more and more that the remarkable benefits of being an open campus within New York City also come with the need to make difficult decisions about when that position can lead to significant safety risks for our Columbia community.
Third, we will be reevaluating building access to balance the importance of access to university resources and the need to ensure the safety of our campus, particularly the risk of violence to any member of our community. Again, we anticipate having reduced building access over the next three days at certain time periods and understand the challenges that will create.
Fourth, because we will need to move public safety personnel to ensure the safety of students, faculty, staff, and campus, we will shift to the restricted gate access status for the next three days. Restricted access means that some gates will not be available. Information about gate access is available at the Public Safety Morningside Campus Access page.
We will take the necessary steps to respond to these developments while working to support the student group special events that are currently scheduled, as well as non-violent demonstrations that have been sent through the notification system established under the Rules of University Conduct. Public Safety and delegate support are fully prepared for this purpose. We will continue to provide frequent updates to inform you of any changes to scheduled events or other developments.
I know that this incredible University community can navigate the challenges of the next several days with compassion, understanding and resilience. Throughout all this planning, we are working closely with Senate leadership, faculty, student and decanal leadership, and our partners across the city and the state. None of these are easy decisions and we will continue to ground every decision in our mission and our principles and expand our engagement and dialogue as we move forward.
All my best,
Katrina Armstrong
Interim President
Columbia University in the City of New York
Update for Our Community, October 6, 2024
(12:15 AM)
We have made the decision to close all buildings on the Morningside campus between 114th and 120th Street and Broadway and Amsterdam other than Butler Library and the residential buildings until the morning of Sunday, October 6. The International Affairs Building will also be closed. We are taking this action out of an abundance of caution given the current environment and based on information recently received. We are also closing campus to guests until the morning of October 6. There may be other changes to campus operations, as well, with the goal of minimizing the impact to normal campus operations as much as possible.
Our decisions about managing campus are rooted in our commitment to Columbia’s academic mission and the safety of our community and our neighbors and guided by the Rules of University Conduct, the associated Guidelines, and relevant University policies.
We will continue to update the community as we have further developments.
Update for Our Community, October 5, 2024
(6:53 PM)
Given the volume of activity we anticipate on Monday, October 7, at the present time we are putting a hold on approving any new requests for guest access to the Morningside campus. We are continuing to evaluate and will update the community.