A Letter to Zohran Mamdani: Here’s How You Can Protect Our Students
(Photo/Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg/Getty)
By Steven Hankins
Dear Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani,
Your mayoral election win sends a tidal wave through U.S. politics. A clear message crashes on the shores of the Democratic establishment: voters want politicians who care about everyday people. With the political chaos of Donald Trump’s second term as president, this year’s mayoral election in NYC exemplifies the progressive mandates of a populace living through the Trump administration.
As a Columbia student, I urge you to defend our academic freedoms.
For more than a year, Mayor Eric Adams has neglected to protect and advocate for students. Instead of facilitating discussions between Columbia’s administration and students involved in the 2024 Gaza Solidarity Encampments, Adams applauded the aggressive entrance of NYPD onto campus. He didn’t listen to students; he listened to billionaires and corporate executives.
While Trump threatened funding cuts to Columbia in February 2025, Adams prioritized himself. The outgoing mayor cozied up to border czar Tom Homan, publicly announcing his willingness to "collaborate" on Trump's anti-immigration agenda. Around a month and a half later, Adams's high-profile corruption case was dropped. Adams's self-interest superseded the well-being of New Yorkers.
Columbia students are drained by the lack of support – not only from New York State or New York City, but from our own university administration. Mr. Mamdani, as the next mayor of our city, you need to prioritize safeguarding students’ rights on Columbia’s campus through the following measures:
Take a public stance against Columbia’s excessive enforcement and surveillance of university students. Columbia’s repeated deference to the NYPD in response to protests, private investigators to probe students, and excessive campus security policies make any meaningful protest organizing on campus nearly impossible. Columbia is well known for its decades of student activism, and students need to know that their freedoms will be protected when engaging in political protests on campus.
While you have previously critiqued Columbia’s use of the NYPD to arrest protesters, reports currently suggest you will retain Jessica Tisch as NYPD Commissioner – the same Police Commissioner who served for Eric Adams. You’ve also noticeably moderated your stances on the NYPD throughout the 2025 election season. Perhaps this was in an effort to appeal to center-left voters in the city, but this moderation runs the risk of neglecting the voices of marginalized communities who are targeted by overpolicing. Your administration must work with Columbia to decrease their reliance on the police and open up Columbia’s campus to the public.
Protect students directly targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Reverse Adams’s executive order allowing ICE to reopen an operations center on Rikers Island. When students or citizens are illegally detained by ICE, denounce it, as Eric Adams failed to do. Border czar Tom Homan warned that the federal government would send more ICE agents into NYC. Focus on expanding current sanctuary city policies, providing legal and educational support for detained individuals, and publicly advocating on behalf of students targeted by ICE.
Visit Columbia’s campus next year with your team. Because of your campaign, students are excited about the future of NYC under your leadership. If we are to have faith in the electoral system, we need to know that our interests are being heard and acted on. You were voted in as mayor because of the support that you have garnered from young people, so you must continue to actively engage with and support the people who have put you in City Hall.
Columbia University has failed to protect its students from his attacks on academic freedom. How your administration responds to these attacks will send ripples far beyond New York, influencing how leaders defend academic freedom nationwide.
In this critical transition period between your election win and the start of your term, young people have hope in the direction of our city. Uphold your campaign promise of delivering for all New Yorkers. Students, the very same people who put you into office, must be at the center of this pursuit.
Mayor-Elect Mamdani, do not let us down.