Announcements

The President’s Advisory Committee on Institutional Voice Issues Its Report

September 25, 2025
Aerial view of Morningside campus.

Dear members of the Columbia community,

Last year, we launched the President’s Advisory Committee on Institutional Voice to help guide us in determining the role that institutional voice should have in advancing our academic mission and our commitment to open inquiry and free expression. The issue of whether, when, and how University leaders should or should not speak in Columbia’s name is, of course, a highly sensitive and urgently important issue. It is being debated in institutions like ours across the country during a very uncertain and challenging time for higher education. We were fortunate to have a committee composed of outstanding faculty drawn from across Columbia, led by Daniel Abebe, Dean of Columbia Law School and Lucy G. Moses Professor of Law, and Mark Mazower, Ira D. Wallach Professor of World Order Studies, as co-chairs.

Learn More

Report of the President’s Advisory Committee on Institutional Voice

The Committee has issued its report and we encourage you to read it in full. We believe it is true to the values of our institution, and we endorse the committee's recommendations as a framework for the University on institutional voice. Going forward, we will develop a process to provide further and more concrete guidance on how these recommendations might be applied in practice. As that work develops, our academic leadership team plans to follow the recommendations in this report, which largely reflect the broad principles that have been guiding our decisions.

This report was informed by an extensive and comprehensive process of broad consultation, including three town halls (on both Morningside and Medical campuses) open to any member of our community who wished to attend. The result, we believe, is thoughtful, thorough, and respectful of Columbia’s history and culture.

Please join us in thanking Daniel and Mark and all the members of the President’s Advisory Committee on Institutional Voice.

  • Scott Barrett, Lenfest-Earth Institute Professor of Natural Resource Economics
  • Courtney Bender, Tremaine Professor of Religion
  • Alessandra Casella, Professor of Economics and Political Science
  • Elizabeth Corwin, Anna C. Maxwell Professor of Nursing
  • Sabrina Diano, Robert R. Williams Professor of Nutrition (in the Institute of Human Nutrition) and of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics
  • Paul Glasserman, Jack R. Anderson Professor of Business
  • Helen Lu, Percy K. and Vida L.W. Hudson Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Senior Vice Dean of Faculty Affairs and Advancement
  • Gillian Metzger, Harlan Fiske Stone Professor of Constitutional Law

They conducted this difficult and critically important work so constructively and wisely.

Sincerely and with gratitude,

Claire Shipman
Acting President, Columbia University in the City of New York

Angela V. Olinto 
Provost

Daniel Abebe
Dean, Columbia Law School

Alexis Abramson
Dean, Columbia Climate School

Katrina Armstrong
Chief Executive Officer, Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Dean, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

Carlos J. Alonso
Dean, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Melissa Begg
Dean, School of Social Work

Shih-Fu Chang
Dean, The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science 

Jelani Cobb
Dean, Columbia Journalism School

Sarah Cole
Dean, School of the Arts

Troy Eggers
Dean, School of Professional Studies

Lorraine Frazier
Dean, School of Nursing

Amy Hungerford
Dean and Executive Vice President for Arts and Sciences

Andrés Jaque
Dean, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation

Costis Maglaras
Dean, Columbia Business School

Dennis A. Mitchell
Interim Dean, College of Dental Medicine

Lisa Rosen-Metsch
Dean, School of General Studies

Kathleen J. Sikkema
Interim Dean, Mailman School of Public Health

Josef Sorett
Dean, Columbia College

Keren Yarhi-Milo
Dean, School of International and Public Affairs