Barnard Faculty Votes In Favor of Restoring Student Privileges in Disciplinary Proceedings, Condemns Policy Changes

Barnard faculty voted to restore privileges to students currently in disciplinary proceedings, and condemned the new changes to the Barnard Code of Conduct, protest policies, and lack of transparency regarding the enforcement of these policies. 

Photography by Sophie Meritt/The Barnard Bulletin

By Sophie Meritt and Lily Sones

September 17, 2024

On Monday, September 9, Barnard faculty voted to approve two statements concerning student disciplinary proceedings in the wake of the pro-Palestinian protests on Barnard and Columbia’s campuses. 

Passing in a vote of 85% “Yes” to 11% “No,” the first statement reads: “We, the Faculty of Barnard College, urge the Barnard administration to restore all privileges to students who are not currently able to register for classes, attend classes, access campus, or access housing and meal service, while their cases are being adjudicated.”

The second statement, which passed with 80% of eligible faculty voting “Yes” and 18% “No,” states: “We, the Faculty of Barnard College, strongly oppose the enforcement of new and changed policies, including the code of conduct and the events and protest policies, and we condemn the administration‘s lack of transparency regarding those policies and their enforcement.”

Three days prior to the vote, Barnard Amnesty reported in an Instagram post that Barnard suspended multiple students for allegedly participating in the third encampment during Columbia’s Alumni Weekend and removed their access to dorms and classes. 

Both statements were unanimously endorsed by the Barnard Department Chairs at their meeting on Wednesday, September 4, five days prior to the faculty vote, and the Chairs subsequently brought it to vote at the following faculty meeting. 

Taylor Carman, professor of philosophy at Barnard and the Chair of the Faculty Governance and Procedures Committee (FGPC), stated that the FCPC brought the statements to a vote.

In Carman’s words, “Statement one is, yes, we the faculty are calling on the administration to cease these disciplinary proceedings, and the second statement says we condemn their behavior.” 

Out of the approximately 800 full-time and part-time faculty and staff at Barnard, only full-time faculty were invited to participate in the vote. Participating faculty voted electronically, and had 48 hours to cast their votes. Of those 235 faculty eligible to vote, 167 casted ballots, making up 71% of those eligible. 

The vote closed on Wednesday, September 11, only hours before the Barnard Administration announced “An Update to our Demonstration Policy” to the Barnard community via email. President Rosenbury subsequently emailed within the hour regarding “Barnard College’s Expectations for Community Conduct,” which detailed examples of how students and faculty should practice community expectations.  

The vote in favor of the statements showed results “very similar to the numbers that were with the vote of no confidence in Laura Rosenbury last year,” said Carman. 

For Statement One specifically, 142 faculty voted “Yes,” which was 85% of the ballots cast, and 60% of the total amount eligible, and 18 faculty voted “No,” which was 11% of ballots cast, and 8% of the total amount eligible. 

Statement Two received 133 affirmative votes, which was 80% of ballots cast and 57% of the eligible voters, and received 30 “No” votes, which was 18% of the ballots cast and 13% of the eligible voters.

The Barnard faculty do not have the authority to create action based on the two statements, only put pressure on the Administration to change their policies on student protests.

Carman stated that “we have not heard any response from the administration about this particular vote or the results.”

Barnard Media Relations has not responded to The Barnard Bulletin in an immediate request for comment.

Update: On September 19, Barnard Media Relations provided a comment attributable to a Barnard spokesperson: “We share in the faculty’s commitment to ensuring the College remains a welcoming and inclusive place that fosters students’ learning and development, and we look forward to our continued work together to achieve these goals.”