Columbia Yields to Trump Demands, SIPA Students Respond with New Coalition
(Photo/United Students of America Press Conference on April 15 on Low Steps/Edwin Kwong)
By TMP Staff
On March 21, former interim University President Katrina Armstrong announced that Columbia University would comply with demands from the Trump administration outlined in a March 13 letter. In a bid to preserve $400 million in federal grants and contracts, the university agreed to sweeping demands from the Trump administration to reform faculty governance, expand oversight of its Middle East, South Asian, and African Studies Department, and implement a mask ban on campus.
Columbia may have been the first university to face strong pressure from the administration, but it is not alone. The Trump administration has since frozen $1 billion in federal funding for Cornell, $790 million for Northwestern, and $2 billion for Harvard—which rejected an extremely prescriptive list of demands from the Trump administration. While the loss of funding threatens research and student programs, the deeper cost may be the erosion of academic freedom itself. Will other universities bend to Trump’s will, as Columbia has? What power do students still have to defend their rights—and their university?
A new student coalition at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) responds to the recent attack on universities around the country. The United Students of America, launched on April 15, condemns the growing encroachment by the federal government on university independence and student freedoms. On an intensely divided campus, they hope to find common ground through shared values of academic freedom, civil liberties, and the pursuit of peace.
“The aim of our organization is different [from] that of any of the existing organizations at SIPA and Columbia… The heart of what we learn and work on [at SIPA] is looking at democracy, free speech, and what that means in the US and around the world. [Launching at SIPA] is a strong place for our organization to come from,” said United Students of America committee member Samantha Day.
Following two consultative meetings with student leaders, the coalition’s steering committee—comprised of SIPA students Samantha Day, Jack Williamson, Trevor Jones, Shraeya Mithal, Maya Hartman, three unnamed American students, and two unnamed student advisors (one Israeli and one Arab student who both requested confidentiality)—finalized a declaration of principles reflecting broad input from SIPA students:
Academic Freedom
United Students of America calls for the protection of academic independence, warning that political interference harms research and education. The lack of substantive communication from administrators regarding the university’s decision-making process leads the coalition to assume that Columbia tacitly supports the spirit of the demands made by the Trump administration.
Civil Liberties
Students and faculty denounce the detention of valid visa holders as unconstitutional and a violation of due process. They defend the right to free speech and peaceful assembly for all political beliefs. Moving forward, United Students of America is committed to avoiding action that is divisive and unproductive while encouraging expression that creates space for consensus and compromise.
The Pursuit of Peace
United Students of America condemns the Trump administration’s use of the Israel-Palestine conflict to divide and suppress civil rights. While acknowledging differing views, they affirm support for human rights and reject all forms of antisemitism and Islamophobia on campus.
Recognizing that the curtailment of freedom of speech impacts domestic and international students differently, the United Students of America has focused on gaining support from U.S. citizens. They hope to expand to the larger Columbia community later this month, to be followed by a national push for the initiative.
“We want to combat this narrative that students at Columbia are not capable of productive discourse... Our call to action is [to put in] the effort to create spaces for better discourse, where groups that have opinions that are diametrically opposed can come together, see each other as human beings, and find common ground,” said United Students of America committee member Jack Williamson.
Steering committee members have been outgoing in their efforts to gain more signatories and have routinely contacted student group leaders asking for their group's participation. Currently, the following groups have signed on in support of the charter: U.S. Citizens of Ethical Fashion Working Group Board (SIPA), U.S. Citizens of International Veterans Association Board (SIPA), U.S. Citizens of SPECTRUM Board (SIPA), U.S. Citizens of Conflict Resolution Collective Board (SIPA), and four additional unnamed groups at SIPA. U.S. Citizens of the Columbia Law School Human Rights Association Board have also endorsed the charter.
“[The] same ethic of care and solidarity [as USA’s principles] is what led the US citizens of the SPECTRUM board to sign the charter. Defending academic freedom, our fellow students, civil liberties, open dialogue, and the right to challenge power isn’t separate from queer liberation—it’s deeply connected to it. We want a world where living freely and safely isn’t a contradiction,” said SPECTRUM President Lei Green.
While a number of SIPA groups have endorsed the charter, many have declined to lend their support at the moment. Several student organizations expressed concerns about the drafting process, including the difficulty faced by international students in signing on and the lack of specificity regarding the charter’s long-term goals. Although they agree with the core principles, these students are concerned that the goals of the United Students of America might shift over time and that their signature could obligate them to support changes that they no longer endorse.
After Cornell, Northwestern, and Harvard have all received notices from Trump, there is a growing urgency for students to come together. Can student-led movements like United Students of America push back against further encroachment on the freedoms of students?