Dear fellow Columbian,
This past year at Columbia University has been the most divisive in over half a century. Escalating protests, police action, tension from within our community (faculty, students, and alumni) and without (social media commentary, hostile politicians), defined a challenging campus mood. The sudden resignation of President Minouche Shafik days before the start of the fall semester only exacerbated the instability.
These issues won’t be resolved by fall. In response, a handful of Columbia alumni have created the Stand Columbia Society, pulling the refrain from our Alma Mater: “Stand Columbia! Alma Mater through the storms of Time abide!”
The Stand Columbia Society is dedicated to a single purpose: “advocating for Columbia University’s core mission of excellence in teaching, learning, research, and patient care and restoring it to its rightful pre-eminence in American—and global—higher education.”
We seek to build a community among our over 400,000 alumni by publishing content and sharing perspectives and insight about the University on a regular basis. We will operate according to the following principles:
- Support informed conversations: Higher education, Columbia in particular, operates differently from other organizations. We will explain not only what things are, but also how they came to be, facilitating a deeper understanding of the institution.
- Focus on excellence, not individuals: We support restoring excellence to Columbia without targeting specific individuals. Columbia is a vast enterprise composed of nearly 36,000 students and 20,000 faculty and staff. Achieving excellence at this scale is difficult. We assume the best of intentions from everyone.
- Non-partisan: We are politically neutral and focused solely on academic excellence and improving our campus climate and culture. These endeavors are not about ‘left’ or ‘right’ but about truth and freedom. Our pursuit isn’t driven by political trendiness or cultural opportunism.
- Organic and independent: We are for Columbians, by Columbians. We distance ourselves from outside groups seeking to influence higher education, maintaining our independence and avoiding politicization or corruption of the mission.
- Remain open and free: The Stand Columbia Society is a labor of love by dedicated Columbia alumni. We do not expect to charge dues or raise money. We are all volunteers. Alumni, students, faculty, staff, friends, and well-wishers are all welcome. All we ask in return is that you share this with others who may be interested and send us your feedback on content or questions you want answered.
- Promote diversity and belonging: Diversity and belonging are bedrocks of strength at Columbia. We believe that restoring informed, reasoned dialogue and discussion among the entire Columbia community can bring together people from all cultures, religions, socio-economic backgrounds, and walks of life. We welcome and encourage participation in the Stand Columbia Society from all.
If you are receiving this email, congratulations, you are already a member of the Stand Columbia Society! If you don’t wish to receive more, simply unsubscribe at the bottom. The first newsletter should arrive in your inbox tomorrow. We invite you to share it and heartily welcome feedback.
Thank you and sincerely,
Stand Columbia Society
Daniel Pianko, CC ‘98
Alexandra Charters Zubko, CC ‘99
Wallace Kalkin, BC ‘18