One student activist is under investigation for putting up stickers off campus that mimicked “Wanted” posters, bearing the likenesses of university trustees. …reports Asian Lite News
Columbia University senior Maryam Alwan was visiting family in Jordan over winter break when she received an email from the school accusing her of harassment. Her supposed top offense: writing an op-ed in the student newspaper calling for divestment from Israel.
The probe is part of a flurry of recent cases brought by a new university disciplinary committee — the Office of Institutional Equity — against Columbia students who have expressed criticism of Israel.
In recent weeks, it has sent notices to dozens of students for activities ranging from sharing social media posts in support of Palestinian people to joining “unauthorised” protests.
One student activist is under investigation for putting up stickers off campus that mimicked “Wanted” posters, bearing the likenesses of university trustees. Another, the president of a campus literary club, faces sanction for co-hosting an art exhibition off campus that focused on last spring’s occupation of a campus building.
In Alwan’s case, investigators said the unsigned op-ed in the Columbia Spectator, which also urged the school to curtail academic ties to Israel, may have subjected other students to “unwelcome conduct” based on their religion, national origin or military service.
“It just felt so dystopian to have something go through rigorous edits, only to be labelled discriminatory because it’s about Palestine,” said Alwan, a Palestinian-American comparative studies major. “It made me not want to write or say anything on the subject anymore.”
The committee informed her that possible sanctions for violating school policy ranged from a simple warning to expulsion.
The new disciplinary office is raising alarm among students, faculty and free speech advocates, who accuse the school of bowing to President Donald Trump’s threats to slash funding to universities and deport campus “agitators.”
“Based on how these cases have proceeded, the university now appears to be responding to governmental pressure to suppress and chill protected speech,” said Amy Greer, an attorney who is advising students accused of discrimination. “It’s operating as a business by protecting its assets ahead of its students, faculty and staff.”
On Monday, federal agencies announced they would consider cutting USD 51 million in contracts to the school — along with billions more in additional grants — due to its “ongoing inaction in the face of relentless harassment of Jewish students.”
“We are resolute that calling for, promoting, or glorifying violence or terror has no place at our university,” Columbia said in a statement following the announcement.
House Republicans have also launched their own review of Columbia’s disciplinary process. Their most recent letter gave administrators until February 27 to turn over student disciplinary records for nearly a dozen campus incidents, including protests it claimed “promoted terrorism and vilified the US military,” as well as the off-campus art exhibition. A spokesperson for Columbia declined to specify what, if any, records were turned over to Congress and whether they included the names of students, adding that they could not comment on pending investigations.
