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Author: standcolumbia

  • Issue #023: Columbia Faculty Survey on Academic Freedom (They’re For It) and Mandatory DEI Statements (They’re Against It)

    Recent findings from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) have sparked important discussions about academic freedom in higher education. A survey titled “Silence in the Classroom” gathered insights from over 6,200 faculty members across 55 U.S. colleges and universities, including 130 from Columbia. Before diving into the findings, it’s worth clarifying that the…

  • Issue #022: ‘Twas the Season at Columbia: Holiday Cheer, History, and Hope

    ICYMI: The House of Representatives released a 43-page Staff Report on Antisemitism. This report includes recommendations (starting on page 15, and our explainer on discipline is also cited as a source) for universities, including enforcing rules, empowering public safety, upholding antidiscrimination policies, increasing viewpoint diversity, and publishing aggregate statistics on disciplinary actions—recommendations which the Stand…

  • Issue #021: Vanderbilt University: A Case Study for Columbia Renewed

    A few weeks ago, Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeier sat down to be interviewed for the “Call Me Back” podcast. It was released under the provocative title “How Vanderbilt University is Getting it Right”, and we think it’s well worth listening to in its entirety. The discussion traversed topics from campus culture to the vital role…

  • Issue #020: The Cult Dynamics of Campus Protests: A Perfect Storm

    ICYMI: We just published our explainer on Title VI, the portion of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that governs a significant portion of Columbia’s billions of dollars of financial assistance from the Federal government. Last year, during Columbia’s new student orientation, a first-year student recounted an experience that sheds light on the dynamics shaping…

  • Issue #019: How Leadership Transformed Columbia from Worst to First: A Conversation with Football Head Coach Jon Poppe

    We hope all of our stateside readers had a very Happy Thanksgiving. The Stand Columbia Society recently had a conversation with Patricia & Shepard Alexander Head Coach of Football Jon Poppe, fresh off the heels of the Columbia Lions’ first championship season since 1961. The following remarks have been edited for length and clarity. 1.…

  • Issue #018: WE WIN!

    The Columbia Lions are Ivy League Champions. Yes, you read that right. For the first time in 63 years—and only the second time in history—our football team claimed the title after a spectacular 7-3 overall (5-2 conference) season. It wasn’t easy. Beating Cornell was just step one. Yale also had to defeat Harvard to create…

  • Issue #017: Columbia’s (Responsible) Faculty: Please Introduce Yourselves

    On April 30, the NYPD was summoned to Columbia’s campus. The NYPD forcibly entered Hamilton Hall, which was occupied by student protestors and outside agitators. During the occupation, the protestors held a Columbia employee hostage. After clearing and securing Hamilton, dozens of students were arrested. The backlash was swift, Commencement was disrupted, and by August,…

  • Issue #016: The Florida Plan: A Potential Trump Administration Playbook for Higher Education

    These are uncertain days for higher education. Last week we wrote in a special edition that up to $3.5 billion (or 55% of the University’s operating budget) could be exposed to stroke-of-pen risk in a Trump administration. Then the New York Times ran an article entitled “Colleges Wonder if They Will Be ‘the Enemy’ Under…

  • Issue #015: We Calculated Columbia’s Institutional Risk Exposure Due to the Election. It’s $3.5 Billion Per Year.

    TL;DR We purposely did not weigh in on the election last week, while we gathered information and tried to put together a thoughtful fact-based perspective. As outsiders, it is not our place to tell our faculty, administration, and Trustees what to do. We lack reliable information and an inside track on the complex trade-offs Columbia’s…

  • Issue #014: Fault Lines Within the Columbia Faculty

    There have been some fireworks this week in the normally sleepy world of University governance. To recap: “Good governance” faculty sent a petition requesting Senate governance reforms, in particular that the current Executive Committee Chair respect term limits (which she herself supported putting in place) and not attempt to run for a fourth term. Another…