Politics & Opinion

The majority of graduating seniors protested against President Rosenbury during the ceremony following weeks of on- and off-campus protests, suspensions, student evictions, and police raids.

Following the NYPD sweep of the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” lockdown of campus, and the official cancellation of the University commencement ceremony, five graduating seniors from across the four undergraduate schools comment on their experience in their final weeks at Columbia.

In an email sent on Wednesday evening, Dean Grinage also announced the postponement of some exams. “This is not how we wanted or expected our semester to come to a close,” the Dean says.

On April 29th, 77% of Barnard faculty voted “no confidence” in President Rosenbury. The vote speaks to growing frustrations that have been brewing among Barnard’s faculty since the start of Rosenbury’s tenure.

After a week of voting being open for the SGA Elections, Barnard students passed the referendum for Columbia and Barnard to divest from Israel at an even higher margin than Columbia College.

Following a statement from President Shafik that Columbia “will not divest,” University delegates handed out notices to encampment protesters to “leave by 2 p.m.” or face disciplinary action.

On the heels of the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” Columbia’s protests, as well as protests at a number of university campuses, have gained local, national and international media attention. Students and faculty say the coverage has been “mischaracterizing” and “misleading.” Inflammatory media reports make students unsafe, not the protests itself. At times of turmoil on campus it is vital to listen to campus journalists who are on the ground seeing everything that is going on.

“Rather than steering the college through rough seas, she has become an agent of chaos,” Barnard faculty write about President Rosenbury after voting 102-0 to issue a statement of no confidence in her leadership.

In an April 26th update, Barnard confirmed that it has reached “resolutions” with students placed on interim suspension and is currently working to do the same with remaining suspended Barnard students.

Columbia-Barnard Jewish communities continue to hold seders and events with extra security guards to keep students safe after reports of anti-semitism around campus. Others return home or celebrate in the Palestinian solidarity encampment.