The Gaza Protests Engulfing Columbia and Other Campuses

To the Editor:

Re “After Arrests at Columbia, Students Face More Fallout” (news article, April 21):

As parents of students suspended by Columbia University and Barnard College, we write to express our outrage.

After deploying the New York Police Department on Columbia’s campus to shut down what Chief of Patrol John Chell characterized as a “peaceful” protest (as reported in The Columbia Daily Spectator), Columbia and Barnard have suspended over 100 students, a great many of whom have been summarily evicted from their dorms and barred from dining halls without a formal investigation or hearing.

Among the evicted are lower-income students, students of color, students with disabilities and first-generation students. The security of students has been further compromised by vicious doxxing. We question the legality of much of what Columbia and Barnard have done in the last few days and fear for our children’s safety.

While we parents come from a variety of religious faiths and social backgrounds, we are all invested in our children’s well-being and education. We therefore find the actions taken by the administration deeply troubling and contrary to the principles of liberty, justice and academic freedom that are fundamental to the mission of higher education.

We demand that Columbia and Barnard repeal the suspensions of all suspended students. If Columbia and Barnard do not reverse course and restore some balance in the treatment of their students, they risk tarnishing their reputations as educational institutions that value free intellectual exchange and the pursuit of justice.

D. Borus
J. Cuming
Ms. Cuming is a Barnard graduate. The letter was signed by 56 other parents of suspended students.