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1 | Name | Twitter/Email | Testimonial | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2 | Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the BDS movement for Palestinian rights | When I was a student at Columbia in the 1980s and participated in the great, Black-led shut-downs of Columbia College to pressure the trustees to divest from apartheid South Africa, I was fulfilling an ethical duty to prevent my tuition from doing harm and supporting injustice anywhere. Your tuition strike today is an advanced form of action that is inspiring and empowering. All progressives are called upon to support your wonderful and creative work to end Columbia's racist and unjust policies, especially in Harlem, as well as its investments in fossil fuels, Israeli apartheid, and other grave violations of human rights worldwide. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
3 | Anonymous | I graduated with a PhD in 1961. I was always struck by the gross inequality inherent in our system of education, in this case higher education. Now, once again, students and their allies are acting to end these inequities. The university (not just Columbia) has to an extent morphed into a corporatized factory for the production of unquestioning skilled workers and for the enrichment of senior administrators and trustees. The intellectual foundations of scholarship and critical thinking are more and more endangered. Access to higher education for people of color and for the daughters and sons of working class families is scarcely more available than it was 60 years ago when I graduated. Now, as our society stares into the abyss of right-wing anarchy, we need critical thinking and non-elite view points more than ever. Good for the students. I support them 100% and I urge the entire Columbia family and my fellow alums to do likewise. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
4 | Niria Alicia | Students shouldn't have to decide between paying their own rent and groceries or paying tuition. As a human rights masters candidate, I am ashamed to learn that the institution with the best human rights program in the world is dragging its feet to address and alleviate the economic pressure thousands of students are facing in this pandemic. That is why I am joining thousands of students on these demands for tuition reductions, increase in financial aid for students and a protection of pay for instructors and university faculty. Columbia, do what's right, or expect thousands of students to go on tuition strike! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | Anonymous | Columbia is not doing enough to support students during this pandemic. The cost of Columbia was always an issue, but because it allowed me to pursue my dream career I didn't think about it too much. Things have changed greatly due to this pandemic. As a nursing student, the shift to completely remote has been difficult. I think it is unfair for students to pay full tuition if we are not receiving the education we signed up for and fees for facilities we cannot use. I cannot work, nor am I eligible for a stimulus check. It is difficult to get by in this city without an income. So I feel it is time for Columbia to help their students. We have adjusted to this completely new way of learning, now Columbia needs to adjust their wallet. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
6 | Anonymous | I am a working mother of 4 who telecommutes to TC. It's a wonderful program and the professors are top of their fields but it is an absolute fortune and it is unjust. Because of the cost, my family pays out of pocket and I attend part-time at a snail's pace. It was mind-bending that the online course I took this fall received over $100,000 in tuition. Did the professor get 100k? No. Further, given the success we've seen with online work, why in the world would a university want to acquire more real estate? This is an old-world ideal of bigger is better and the timing is bizaar. Given the pandemic, no one needs more business real estate these days - but people ARE losing their homes. Further, acquiring more land in Harlem takes it off the tax rolls for public services. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
7 | Anonymous | I’m financially independent and work full time to support myself and pay for school. I’m supposed to graduate this spring but I can’t even register for classes because Columbia won’t even lift my hold for me to register. I’m barely making ends meet due to my lack of work and obviously can’t prioritize Columbia tuition. The way the school is handling this is without students in mind, every inch given is an apparent cya effort that doesn’t actually take into account the needs of its students. Now is not the time for this level of inadequacy in the university’s compassion and care for its students. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
8 | Anonymous | I wanted to take a year off to avoid taking classes in a pandemic. The choice was effectively taken from me because my scholarship is only guaranteed up to this academic year. Also, I was utilizing student health as my primary provider, but was told they can't write prescriptions for me since I am residing in CA. I feel such a lack of institutional support from this school. Especially at the start of this pandemic, there was no pledge of support and I had to make many decisions with uncertainty about what would happen to my belongings in on-campus housing. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
9 | Anonymous | It’s been so upsetting that Columbia, the most expensive Law school in the country with one of the largest endowments in all of the land has refused to help students during the pandemic. During the summer, they refused to provide rent relief; I was forced to pay $5,000 for an apartment that I could not live in AND that I was not allow to sublet. In the spring semester, we were not refunded any money for the lackluster second half of the semester. This fall we returned I let to find out that the school had INCREASED tuition my $3,000 when other schools had committed to decreases. They gave a one time extra payment of $1,500 to students which we were expected to split between fall and spring semester. It’s absolutely insane and frankly I want my money back because they have exploited students. The school says that they’ve lost money from deferrals...so instead you put that extra burden onto students who stayed?! How does that make sense? How is that FAIR to students who’s family members have been unemployed for 9+ months when the president of the university is making millions? Even law firm partners decreased their draws this year so that they could maintain associate and staff salaries, why aren’t the administrators doing the same? I’m really disgusted with how this has all gone down and after this episode Columbia will NEVER see a dollar from me. There is still time for the school to DO THE RIGHT THING and (1) provide refunds from the spring 2020 semester, (2) refund students their summer rent if they could prove that they were not in their apartments for any part of the summer 2020 months (3) provide refunds for inflated tuition from the fall 2020 semester and (4) decrease spring 2021 tuition and fees. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
10 | Anonymous | Initially, I did not support the strike because I wrongly believed that Columbia was doing the best it could under the circumstances. After President Bollinger’s tone-deaf and downright malicious response, and after reading more about what Columbia has been doing in tuition charges and campus expansion, I could no longer support the actions of the University. I am graduating this semester, but I pledge to support this tuition strike as a member of the Columbia staff and a recent alum. I also plan to provide free tutoring for students in the course I currently TA, regardless of University retaliation or financial holds on their accounts. I also pledge to withhold any and all future donations unless the University rectifies it’s priorities as an educational institution. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
11 | Anonymous | My first semester at Columbia was the spring of 2020. Between growing up in a low-income household and having parents whom one of which never finished college (nor GED), I never thought I would get into Columbia. When I did I was ecstatic! Little did I know it would be impossible for me to afford it. After maxing out on loans, grants, and scholarships, I still had to fund a private loan in order to even take two classes and had to commute from Pennsylvania to do so. After Covid happened, I had to defer for the fall because attending would be impossible. I may not be in the exact situations as someone who is currently attending, but had things been different then, I would still have the opportunity to make my family proud and be a Columbia graduate; rather than just an honorable mention for being accepted. With a multi-billion dollar endowment fund, never would I think I would be unable to attend due to a lack of funds. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
12 | Anonymous | I’m 34 years old and just enrolled part-time at GS this fall after 16 years away from school. I went to Barnard for a year when I was 18 (2004-2005) and the money wasn’t a factor for me at all since my parents were footing most of the bill. That said, it did take me five years or so to pay off ONE year’s worth of comparatively modest student loans. Returning as a working adult without parental financial support, I currently hold multiple jobs to make ends meet AND pay for school out of my own pocket. Financial aid has only helped so much. The gap not covered by aid is beyond my ability to pay. The 20 hour/week work limit for low-wage work study doesn’t suffice. Two additional freelance jobs are helping, but I’m still living off of periodic dips into my meager savings, most of which was accumulated through unemployment benefits and pandemic assistance. This is not sustainable. At some point I will have to get a full time job outside of the university system, and my studies may suffer as a result of schedule conflicts and a heavier professional workload. As it is it will take me at least five years to finish my degree on a part-time basis and I need the process to feel more sustainable for my day to day cost of living and consider the burden of student loans in my future working in the nonprofit sector (not exactly big bucks, but I’m not about that life). All told, the challenge of returning to school as a working adult is one I’ve taken on willingly, wholeheartedly, and with full knowledge of the sacrifices it carries. Yet it remains undeniable that the higher than average cost of tuition at Columbia is a burden and I am worried about taking on a heavy loan burden when I can’t meet the up front cost not covered by financial aid. The changes proposed in this petition could make a big difference by enabling me to thrive and succeed as an adult student and low-income working professional hustling to build my career parallel to my studies. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
13 | Anonymous | I'm a graduate student at Teachers College and also work in the arts in a full time administrative position and, until the onset of Covid-19, had an active freelance performing career as well. I feel incredibly fortunate that I am still employed full time but with the loss of performing opportunities I've lost almost a third of my income. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
14 | Anonymous | As a first-year student, I've lost respect for Columbia over the past nine months. Dealing with financial aid has been a nightmare: I had my work-study cancelled for this semester, and my aid was substantially reduced long after I committed, such that my cost of attendance did not go down at all for virtual learning. Even during a pandemic, this institution seems preoccupied almost entirely with its own bottom line. I'm still a first-year, so there's time for Columbia to convince me otherwise -- even just following the standard set by their own peer institutions would be a great first step. That said, this school needs to rethink its priorities and eschew short-term profits in favor of long-term relationships with its students, alumni, and community. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
15 | Anonymous | As a native Harlemite it’s frustrating to see such little financial support for students who’ve grown up in the communities that Columbia is in. More needs to be done to support us in all ways! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
16 | Anonymous | The Teachers College Program in Nutrition Dietetic Interns all gathered together to press TC admin for these changes in the spring (I can provide receipts and emails). We were dismissed with disrespect and avoidant responses. TC has their own "poor" endowment but it is still astronomical. They have liquid assets they could have used to alleviate student financial suffering but instead ignored us for as long as possible then responded with platitudes. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
17 | Yunus Kovankaya | yk2862@columbia.edu | Although I do not pay tuition, I am participating in the tuition strike because the student responsibility forces me and many of my friends, who are FGLI, to look for private scholarships to finance our education. Removing this barrier would take a great deal of stress of ourselves and our families. It would give us greater freedom to focus on our classes and opportunities outside of class, allowing us to thrive at Columbia. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
18 | G Inguanta | TUITION STRIKE BECAUSE: THIS UNIVERSITY IS ON STOLEN LAND AND IT CONTINUES TO STEAL LAND FROM THE HARLEM COMMUNITY. NOT IN MY NAME. IT CONTINUES TO PERPETUATE ANTI-BLACK RACISM IN THE HARLEM COMMUNITY AND ON CAMPUS. NOT IN MY NAME, WITH MY MONEY. COLUMBIA U HAS PLEDGED TO BE WORKING TOWARDS RACIAL HEALING WHILE ALSO MAINTAINING ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE NYPD AND HIRING RETIRED COPS FOR PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICER POSITIONS. NOT IN MY NAME. COLUMBIA U HAD BEEN INVESTED IN PRIVATE PRISONS, ICE, AND BIG OIL. FOUNDED ON SLAVE MONEY AND IS DOING NOTHING IN REAL TIME TO AMEND THAT HISTORY. NO I WILL REFUSE TO PAY YOU WHILE YOU MISTREAT AND GASLIGHT MY BLACK CLASSMATES AND COLLEAGUES. TUITION STRIKE! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
19 | Anonymous | the Columbia School of Social Work (CSSW) has increased tuition for graduate students by over $1,000 this year, which is absolutely ridiculous considering we're in a pandemic, students are facing financial hardships and strain, and social workers don't really get paid that much anyways. CSSW has explicitly told us they were not doing any type of tuition refund or reductions and has no plans on doing so. This is all just very frustrating, on top of the fact that CSSW hasn't even considered doing a P/F option, despite many students advocating/asking for so. It's *very* hypocritical of a school that boosts to take PROP (power, race, oppression, privilege) into consideration in all aspects they do, a school claiming to be anti-racist/anti-oppressive. It's all performative if it means not supporting your students when they need it the most. Sending out emails about how we can go get mental health counseling is pretty much useless if not taken into account mental health's strain because of financial difficulties/capitalism. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
20 | Anonymous | The amount of tuition I have to pay to Columbia has seriously made me have to choose between keeping my family healthy and paying to take class. The fact that we have students who are still in need of food banks to get them through this all while tuition increases is simply embarrassing. I am a social work student - we work 21 hours a week with no pay and no assistance with transportation. I go to my agency, work directly with homeless populations (many of whom do not wear a mask or wear it improperly). The fact that I don't get help with transportation even makes my heartbreak everyday. Columbia can reduce 'facilities' fees and 'student activity' fees and even 'technology' fees. Also, as a work study student - $6,000 allows me to work merely 8-9 hours a week. I struggle everyday to make ends meet. Can we at least increase work study for us students who spend our time cleaning data that the institution publishes NATIONALLY. You want us to put ourselves at risk, do the dirty work, and learn from some professors who have been so awful to us all semester and still increase our tuition? How saddening is this. I can't imagine wanting my children to go to such a school that ignores financial needs and difficulties. :( | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
21 | Anonymous | My dad was diagnosed with early stages of dementia last year. Not only has this affected his ability to hold down a job, but the pandemic has combined to leave him barely working part-time. He cannot afford health insurance, and has to work outdoors with lots of different people. Every day I fear that he catches the virus. I fear that he may acquire health care costs that we as a family cannot afford, how that may affect my ability to attend Columbia, and worst of all that he may just refuse to go to hospital for that reason and die. My family is poor. Despite the CU tuition calculator which told me I should only be paying $5,000 a year in tuition, my aid package has left me paying more than $30,000 a year. We don't have that. And it pains me to see my mom insist on taking out exorbitant loans to do it. All I can do is pray I get a high paying job out of school, so I can pay off my debts, and hopefully give my parents a better life. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
22 | Anonymous | Like many of my colleagues, I came to Columbia to make the world a better place. The amount of loans I've had to take on to afford this exorbitant tuition will force me to work on high-paying jobs rather than high-impact jobs, at least for the next 10 years. This is not the path toward the just, clean and inclusive future we want and need. This is not how a university contributes to the common good. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
23 | Anonymous | As a nursing professional, it saddens me that Columbia continues to bleed their students dry when so many of us are working on the frontlines to help and save those that are afflicted with COVID-19. Their instructors have not only been extremely unhelpful and non-empathetic, the rising tuition costs have begun to stress many of the students to extremes when they already, figuratively, have the world on their shoulders. Shame on Columbia for continuing to charge thousands of dollars for the bare minimum of Zoom classrooms and spiteful professors. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
24 | Anonymous | As a student with a disability, I already have obstacles and disadvantages during normal times of study. This is a challenge that I long ago accepted and deal with it when situations change and the situation has drastically changed, not just for me but for every student. As a student during normal times, whether I choose to use them or not, I have access to services and resources that help me succeed academically and professionally. But as a student with autism using virtual learning entirely, I lack even the basic opportunities in everyday educational settings that allow me to succeed. Libraries are places of refuge where I can work without the noises of NYC being too overwhelming. Face-to-face interactions with professors allow me to read their facial expressions and provide real-time processing of that social interaction. Simply being on campus and walking through the doors of Teachers College brings about an academic mindset that I have spent years training my brain to help orientate myself. Now, my desk or dining room table is my library with all the stimuli that I try to avoid in order to work. Technical issues associated with video interactions with professors prevent me from being able to process the conversation and actually learn. Over many years, I have purposefully associated my home environment with relaxation and mental breaks. But now I must change that mental programming to thinking of home as my study space while also balancing the relaxation aspect. The fact that I am using loans for the same amount of money as the quality of education I was receiving last year is enraging. Though these issues are not by the fault of any individual and are the safest options, Columbia and its affiliate colleges have a choice to change their degree price tag to match the services and resources that can be provided during a pandemic. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
25 | Anonymous | For my course, Columbia raised the tuition fee by 30% from 2019 to 2020. The University raised its budget by 2 billion from 2019 to 2020. President Bollinger is the highest-paid academic professional among all American (and probably the world) universities, and he didn't agree to a salary cut. I don't feel like all of this is right, especially since most of us can't have the whole university's experience because of the pandemic. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
26 | Anonymous | I am currently unable to register for Spring classes as I have a $1,800 charge on my student account. This is what has been left over after withdrawing both Federal Loans and Institutional Loans. $1,800 is difficult to pay when neither I nor my parents have money in our savings. I was recently injured and I require surgery and physical therapy. This was enough to drain our savings. I was in the process of applying for a private loan of $2000 when I realized that total on my student account was less than the increase in tuition in the past three years. It seems wrong that I should have to apply for yet another loan in the middle of the holiday season and in a pandemic while the school has experienced a $310M increase in their endowment during COVID. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
27 | Anonymous | Many countries around the world provide free education (including masters and PhD degrees) not only for their citizens, but also for foreign students. Teacher education is prioritized and provided for free in some of the leading countries whose students outperform US students in international assessments such as PISA. Here in the US, especially at Columbia University, the tuition is extremely high and on top of it we have to pay very high interest rates on student loans. High tuitions and student loans throughout the US are decreasing the quality of life of millions of Americans. I personally have about $200,000 student loan debt, which will take me many many years to pay back. These student loans are such a burden that may cause life-long stress and health problems, as well as other negative consequences. This pandemic has made our financial situation worse as many of us lost our jobs or sources of income. Thus, our tuition should be decreased considerably, and the interest on student loans should not only be decreased but eliminated completely. If other countries can afford to provide free education for their students and also for foreign students, our country, the United States of America, should at least let us borrow money free of interest. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_education#:~:text=In%20European%20countries%20such%20as,all%20European%20and%20international%20students. 2. https://www.findamasters.com/advice/blog/1598/study-abroad-for-free-11-european-countries-where-masters-tuition-is-free-or-almost-free-in-2019-20 3. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/what-student-debt-does-to-people-its-not-pretty-2018-11-14 4. https://www.forbes.com/sites/dianahembree/2018/11/01/new-report-finds-student-debt-burden-has-disastrous-domino-effect-on-millions-of-americans/?sh=7e58ca7812d1 5. https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/dont-underestimate-the-stress-of-student-loan-debt-0224207 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
28 | Anonymous | I know this pandemic has affected every one of us in different ways. So I can only speak for myself, but as an international student on financial aid, this year has been tough to say the least. Waking up for classes and class registration appointments at 3am local time; working part-time alongside my courses every week with hardly any free time to spare because of assignments and exams. Having to constantly go through the anxiety of wondering when I’ll get back to campus, what I’ll do about housing, and the large sum of money I am paying every month for storage that I had to get back in March. The constant feeling of uncertainty about where I will be in a few months is overwhelming for my family and myself, not to mention the fear of covid. I hate to think that I am paying large amounts of tuition just to be in this condition. It has crossed my mind several times that maybe I should have attended a local university instead. A reduced tuition will be of a big lift up for my family during this difficult time and I am sure that it is necessary for many many students right now. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
29 | Anonymous | I'm a new student, just transferring from community college. I really don't want to risk pausing my education, however, I also work part-time and due to the pandemic, my work has decreased significantly. If my aid is not increased or if tuition isn't lowered, I fear I will not be able to pay it regardless of whether or not I even participate in the strike! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
30 | Anonymous | I’m outraged my child has been home zooming since March 2020 and I had to pay for John Jay health services as well as student activities fee. My husband asked to opt out of those fees. The school did not even respond to the request. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
31 | Anonymous | Just wanted to say thank you for your hard work in organizing this. It seems ironic to me, as a student at TC, that we're all about educational equity yet it's so difficult to pay for our own education at the school, and there aren't even any RA kinds of positions or department-specific scholarship available in my department to at least try to get to ease the burden a little bit. And being fully remote has made it seem even more nonsensical. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
32 | Anonymous | currently i am relying on what is essentially a full ride in grants from the university to afford to attend. If tuition goes up and my aid doesn’t follow with it, it will make it harder for me to attend. A tuition strike will help financial aid students like me be assured that we will be able to afford our education in the future. This isn’t just an effort to help wealthy students who pay sticker price!!! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
33 | Anonymous | Teachers College offers no support to students. The quality of classes online is not the same as in person, and it is absurd that the university acts and charges tuition as though it is. The learning conducted over Zoom is barely learning, consisting mostly of busy work. My professors could not operate Zoom or other online platforms, often asking students for assistance and wasting class time on simple technical challenges, such as how to pause videos or stop screen sharing. My instructors also consistently failed to facilitate any critical discussion during class time for the full duration of the semester. I am absolutely not getting my money’s worth through this online learning. One of my professors didn’t even properly learn my name, consistently mispronouncing it throughout the entire semester. This online format works when effectively implemented, but Teachers College has not taken the necessary steps to do this, resulting in impersonal and disconnected instructors who have the audacity to treat their students disrespectfully because they are seeing them on a screen and not face to face. I should not be charged so exorbitantly while Columbia figures this virtual learning out (or at all). I should not have to pay to be a guinea pig for online learning when Columbia continues to make so much money. I refuse. It’s disrespectful for Columbia to be charging as much as they do in general but especially whilst we are all in a global pandemic and for this subpar instruction that I’ve experienced all semester long. It’s obscene. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
34 | Anonymous | I have received emails from financial aid informing me that they will be reducing my financial aid for next semester because I chose to stick with my mother's employer sponsored insurance plan, rather than opting into the Columbia plan. They did not ask how much the other insurance is and if I have other means to pay for it but instead assumed this other insurance must be free and chose to reduce my aid by the entire budgeted amount allotted for medical insurance premiums - all in the middle of a pandemic and right before finals. Talk about stress. Just because I did not choose their insurance does not mean I don't have medical insurance and other health-related expenses. But they are not considering this and expect that I do not need financial assistance for health care. Oh and by the way, I am recovering from COVID-19. But let me just avoid the doctor because I know I can't afford it without their assistance, which they specifically state they will provide for health insurance but then change their mind on the back end. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
35 | Anonymous | Schools during a global crisis should not be putting their own students into financial burdens and rather should work to alleviate these concerns. Instead, Columbia increased tuition and charged unnecessary fees like health services that remote students can barely use, an activity fee for student orgz barely managing to deliver programming, and countless useless other underlying fees. To top it off, I personally had to scrap together money to be able to pay whatever my loan amount could not cover due to the increase in tuition during a time where my family was enduring financial hardship from lost income and could not support in any way. That is absolutely disgusting that an institution where I chose to attend because of the progressive ideals they uphold is so apathetic to its students needs. Why should I donate and promote them after graduation if this is how they treated me and many others in such a low time for everyone? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
36 | Arthur Boyle | Sky-high tuitions are a conscious choice to prioritize expansion and corporatization of universities. It's a choice made with full understanding that the student loan industry acts as an unlimited coffer, leveraged against students' futures. Columbia leads American universities in the near-total submission to finance, not only by selling its students' futures to the industry, but by unashamedly prioritizing those academic fields which finance most rewards--in short, anything which is profitable, or anything deemed worthy by the incredibly rich benefactors who now determine the university's present and future. Ultimately, any sincere academic institution should be tuition free, and offer full remedial education, to close the divide between the upper class that it was made for, and the working class that made it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
37 | Anonymous | Teachers College has stated on multiple occasions that it is "dedicated to promoting equity and excellence in education and overcoming the gap in educational access and achievement between the most and least advantaged groups in this country." As the first-born daughter of refugees, this mission speaks directly to my own educational experiences and hopes for my role as an educator. TC's belief in educational access and equity was one of the reasons that I chose to pursue my graduate studies at the school. However, its ever-rising tuition and fees have put its world-class educational opportunities out of reach for many of my fellow lower and middle income students. If Columbia University and Teachers College by extension are serious about overcoming the structural inequities that have historically excluded Black, Brown, and lower income individuals from attending elite academic institutions - they will begin by reducing (or eliminating) the largest barrier, cost. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
38 | Michelle G. | The actions of the university during a once-in-a-lifetime natural catastrophe are reprehensible but completely unsurprising, as they have made no secret that their bottom line is the guiding principle for everything they do. While they pledge to keep us students and faculty safe and do everything they can to "support us in these trying times," at every critical juncture the administration has made life for students more difficult. So many of our community members have lost family and friends to covid-19, have lost jobs and income needed to support them through school, and are barely keeping it together. The stress of simply being alive and sentient is excruciating; the fact that the university insists on increasing tuition, imposing a grading system for the fall semester, refusing to be flexible with students paying for university housing, and making life during such a time altogether more difficult for the community makes it abundantly clear that it does not deserve our tuition, and it does not deserve our talent. Moreover, after witnessing such callous regard for its students, I've vowed to never donate to the school as an alum. This complete disregard for student wellbeing cannot continue. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
39 | Anonymous | The university continues to claim to support students of color, yet does nothing to consider the financial burden their families endure when taking out loans. As a black student from the US, I have found the support mechanisms weak at best given the size and influence of Columbia. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
40 | Anonymous | Alexandra.paola@columbia.edu | This is an opportunity for the Columbia administration and Board to live up to what they’ve said for so long. We are a community. Members of the community are deeply suffering and could use the help of this prestigious and far reaching institute. Many, too many, have gone into financial debt for professions that no longer exist. To work in industries that have completely shut down. We are drowning. We need help and you have the power and ability to offer the kind of profound policies and assistance to safe the community you claim to be dedicated to. There’s no such thing as returning back to normal for many “normal” consisted of barely keeping our head above water. This is the opportunity for everyone to try a different way of those things because the current way of doing things has lead to the dearth of hundreds of thousands of people, a majority of which has been people of color. No more letters of platitude and half-hearted missives. It’s time for action. It’s time for change. Too many people have lost their lives and so much more will be lost if institutions as powerful as Columbia University don’t step up and take the meaningful steps to remedy the bad choices that have left so many with so little. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
41 | Calin Lisenbee | cl91@cumc.columbia.edu | Due to COVID, our cohort in the Masters Nursing program (MDE) was denied a final 6 week clinical rotation that was crucial to acquiring specific nursing skills and experience. We were given no refund on tuition, nor any chance to make up the clinical time for which we have paid in our tuition. At the same time, we were asked to volunteer to work as unlicensed nurse technicians (basically nurse's aids) during the March-April COVID surge, but for those who stepped up to do this work, they were not able to learn/practice licensed nursing skills that would have been included in a clinical rotation. Many of my cohort have expressed frustration and concern about their lack of nursing skills at graduation, because we did not have any integrative clinical rotation. This was also true for the doctoral programs in advanced nursing specialties where students have experienced the same problem - clinical hours drastically cut short with no make-up and no tuition reimbursement. I think many in the School of Nursing have very specific demands regarding what we were sold as incoming students (and chose at a higher price than other nursing programs) and what we actually received. While the school is not responsible for the logistical problems created by COVID, it is responsible for providing the clinical hours and instruction time as programmed. Otherwise, we should have tuition reimbursed (at least) for this lack of scheduled instruction time. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
42 | Emmaline Bennett | emmaline.bennett@columbia.edu | I'm a Teachers College student teaching history in a Brooklyn public high school as I work towards certification. I'm entirely dependent on financial aid and loans because my family members are living paycheck-to-paycheck and I don't have time to work in addition to taking classes, organizing, and teaching full-time. Even with scholarships from TC, by the time I get my professional certification in 2 years, I'll be about $90,000 in debt. The average disposable income of a teacher in NYC, after subtracting rent and taxes, is about $21,000 a year--which means that I would have to spend half of my disposable income each year to simply making debt payments, if I want to be debt-free by the next decade. I don't even know if it's possible to pay for groceries, utilities, and other expenses on just $10,000 a year in NYC, so maybe I'll be paying off my student debt for multiple decades. This is by no means a problem unique to me - it's almost impossible to become a public school teacher without going into debt first. Before COVID, I would've been able to get certification through an "alternative pathway" that would have cost much less money than a university program. But ever since COVID, those alternative pathways have closed down in New York. My only other option would've been to go to a somewhat less expensive state school, but I would've still ended up in almost as much debt. I think it's unfair that university administrators like Lee Bollinger continue to rake in up to $4.5 million a year while many, many education students like me have to go into a decade's worth of student debt simply to be able to teach young people about subjects like history, English, math, or science--isn't the latter much more useful to society than whatever it is that university administrators at an Ivy League college do? Although I can't go on tuition strike, I've been deeply involved in organizing it, because I think that--as reasonable as our demands are--the only way we'll be able to overcome Columbia's drive towards profit and force them to do what's right is through collective action by thousands of students and workers. I think that our tuition strike will also be an inspiration to other students around the country fighting against rising student debt, and for a vision of a democratized university system and education as a human right. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
43 | Caroline | @sweetcarolime | As a chronically ill/disabled student, the pandemic has been especially difficult for me. My weakened immune system puts me at a higher risk but because I look healthy, people often do not take my limitations/vulnerability seriously. I lost a family friend to covid, which added to the anxiety and depression that arose during the pandemic. It’s a constant fear that clings to the back of my mind. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
44 | Emily | ep3014@columbia.edu | As a student who attends class fully online and has never set foot on the Columbia campus, I do not know why my cost of attendance includes items such as "Living Expenses" "Transportation" and "Personal Expenses". This number is what FAFSA uses to determine financial aid awarded. Especially during quarantine times, students should only get charged for tuition and room & board (if living on campus). Students should also know more about what each line item in the cost of attendance means and there should be full transparency in where our money goes. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
45 | Gilbert Manda | From a personal perspective, I have found it very difficult dealing with management at Columbia. I am a non traditional student in the School of General Studies. When I started in 2018, I was told I had forgotten to sign a financial aid document. I ended up not getting any aid. When the spring 2019 semester came, I was owing $15,000. As a result, I could not register for classes. I paid $2,000 towards the balance, Columbia slapped more than $2,000 in penalties. They soon took my account to collections and the balance swell to $20,000. I am in this country as a refugee. I finished the 2018 fall semester sleeping on the streets. I was homeless while attending school. I applied for a scholarship for the displaced, and I was declined. I cannot take out student loans because I don't have an established credit history. I am sharing this information with you to highlight how impervious Columbia is to students' problems. I hope I am wrong. I hope my situation is just one person in the financial aid office making life hard for me. I will sign the petition. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
46 | Humberto Romero-Gonzales | Hr2490@columbia.edu | As a low income student it is impossible to meet academic expectations while working and studying full time. Despite, the high cost of Columbia tuition, the lock of monetary resources to pay tuition put mental and emotional weight on my shoulders. After all, while the school is closed, I am unable to use all the resources available at school. To me it is socially unequal to expect us to pay such high fees without almost no financial Aid assistance but can’t use on campus resources. It is simply unethical. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
47 | Anonymous | Tn2432@columbia.edu | Currently due to Covid having 4 kids it’s real difficult financially my financial plans have changed so much. At its quiet frustrating being stuck with over 80k in loans. The resources available when the campus is fully functioning is not available as it is and as such we should not be charged the same amount. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
48 | Anonymous | slc2228@cumc.columbia.edu | As a graduate of the CUSON Master's Direct Entry Program and current student in the Doctorate of Nursing Practice Program, I support the tuition strike because the quality of my clinical education has decreased significantly with no commensurate compensation. MDE Students typically participate in a full-time 6-week-long capstone Integration experience, a nursing internship with 1:1 preceptorship for each student nurse. This year, Integration was cancelled and students subsequently lost these unique training opportunities that they were promised upon enrolling. All classes have been moved online with an unacceptable degree of technical incompetency in some cases, and current clinical experiences in the DNP programs are sorely lacking. All nursing students understand that this is a necessity given the unprecedented circumstances, and remain flexible. Many students had chosen to serve as unlicensed assistive personnel during the first wave of the pandemic, making the sacrifice to risk potential exposure to COVID-19. Faculty and staff continue balking at our lack of skills, and telling us that we need more clinical experience, even though there is no other way to get it. Additionally, there are hiring freezes in hospitals all across New York City, and being a Columbia nurse has, by and large, not given us the connections or basic skills to help new graduates find inpatient jobs as Registered Nurses. We are the future generation of healthcare workers. We play an important role in keeping the public safe and fighting this very pandemic, yet our educational needs are not being met. We are asked to sacrifice everything and be selfless, only to be taken advantage of. The most marginalized of us are slipping through the cracks, and Columbia University is turning a blind eye. The least that Columbia could do is honor the demands of the tuition strike and compensate students at this academic institution for the educational experiences they were promised, yet are not receiving. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
49 | Taylor | tmj2132@columbia.edu | Columbia Nursing has adjusted their academic calendar so that the Spring semester is shortened and rolls into month long additions of May and June on an as needed basis. It is not shared anywhere, however, that these additional months are considered another term per financial aid and will cost as much money as another full term. Traditionally, summer terms are June-August but this year it is any class, rolled from the Spring or not, in May, June, July, August. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
50 | Anonymous | @joytandile | The semester has been really difficult for me. I usually have at least one small breakdown a week. I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep going next semester if we’re online. It’s just so isolating. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
51 | Anonymous | lunaerin8@gmail.com | A student shouldn't have to work two jobs to survive while going to such an expensive university. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
52 | Anonymous | Kyra.armstrong@gmail.com | I am a first year SOA grad student, and my classmates and I are paying for tickets, experiences, and in-person connections that aren’t being offered right now. We don’t blame the administration for the fact that we can’t have the full Columbia experience due to COVID, and appreciate them prioritizing our safety, but we absolutely do blame them for still charging students for all these nonexistent opportunities. The fact that I can be taking classes from home and still be expected to pay full tuition, including activities fees, class fees and service fees for activities and services that aren’t being offered, is unacceptable. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
53 | Miles Rubin | mjr2237@columbia.edu | I am a low income student at GS who has taken out extensive loans from private loan servicers incurring egregious debt in order to receive what I thought would be a world class education and an opportunity for a better future. However since Covid, the quality in every aspect of the university has drastically decreased. I have professors who are unmotivated and do not care, lectures are interrupted by their pets because they teach from home, some times they forget to record lectures, I have professor who changes the dates of his class simply because he feels like it, which forces me to miss other classes. Columbia prohibits transfer students with online college credit from using it towards their degree because the university considers online courses to be an “inferior form of education.” So according to the words of Columbia University, why should we be expected to pay full price for an inferior education? I believe the university knows the classes are now inferior, and in an effort to rectify this, or simply keep students from protesting, they have decided to grant all under grads the opportunity to take free summer courses. All under grads except for those in school of General Studies. This is truly an insult and needs to be rectified immediately. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
54 | Anonymous | pck2123@columbia.edu | After many amends and requests, my department has given me the sad news that they cannot cover my insurance fees. I am deeply affected by COVID-19 and can no longer pay for health insurance. The insurance is not covered within the loan. I would like to ask for a waiver of fees. Pre-covid my finances were good, however, during covid my mother had a significant salary reduction. My family is severely affected both financially and healthwise due to the pandemic. My grandmother is a disabled person. She needs constant medical care and attention, and thus it is no longer possible for my single mother to support my living. I am finding a job to sustain myself. While I am writing, the food I got today from our food pantry at Lerner stares at the academic and financial pressure I am in right now. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
59 | Anonymous | @jayanneforrest | I think COVID restrictions have made me feel more isolated and emotionally volatile. I find it hard to be as productive as I usually am, and I wish that I had more opportunities that required I leave my room. I am grateful that most of my living expenses are covered by Columbia; so i really only spend when I leave campus or decide to eat out. I am hoping that this new presidency brings competence to the handling of COVID. This is a tough time for many people so I am grateful for what I have. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
60 | Laura Bane | I support YDSA's cause because it is a fair and appropriate response to the current social and economic situations at hand. There is no reason why a school with a hefty endowment should subject students who have been severely impacted by an unforeseen pandemic to the price of full tuition and student contribution. The university is trying to charge us as if we're operating under normal conditions when, in actuality, we're experiencing one of the country's most severe downturns since the Great Depression. It's simply immoral. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
61 | Anonymous | The cost of attendance creates extreme financial hardship in the form of debt, especially for the most disadvantaged students; FLIP, low-income background students. The University positions itself as supposedly supporting progressive, inclusive, socially just, and equitable politics, yet at the same time charges the highest tuition in the world to students who systematically have the least available resources at their disposal to escape debt bondage. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
65 | Anonymous | I'm a GS student and I have less than $5k in my bank account and I'm attending Columbia completely on financial aid + private loans. If I was CC, and Columbia covered all of my demonstrated need, they would be supporting pretty much my whole tuition outside of federal aid, because I have almost no money. Instead, my entire aid package was less than half of my total tuition for the 2020-2021 academic year. This summer, when I called the stupendously useless GS financial aid office for help, they told me ‘Oh, maybe I should defer my admission for a year so I can afford going to Columbia.’ But it's not like working for a year would fix my problem anyway. I was at least $40k short, and since I was working retail making <$11/hr, I would still not be able to afford tuition, or even qualify for a loan to make up the amount. I would have to sell a kidney. So, in order to attend Columbia this year and fulfill my destiny, I had to take out a huge private loan- which I was unable to do on my own, of course, since I don;t have the money/income to qualify for a ~$40k loan. I had my parents cosign, who only agreed after I pretty much begged them to help and promised to be successful and pay it back. I couldn't even receive CARES act aid, which Columbia declined for some reason. It wouldn't have covered the tens of thousands of dollars I still owed to attend this fall, but anything extra, even $5k, would have helped. I have no conception of how big of a burden this will put on me after I graduate, but I guess I'll probably have a couple hundred thousand dollars of debt by the time I finish my undergraduate degree here. I think it's really unfair that GS doesn't get the same financial support as CC students- it really shows that the school doesn't believe in me. I don't just believe, but _know_ for a fact that if I was the person I am now, while I was still in high school, I would've already graduated from CC a few years ago. Too bad this is the price I arbitrarily have to pay for having the upbringing I had. In light of this situation, I am completely in favor of any reduction in tuition and increase in aid, especially in light of the fact that the price of tuition is the cost of a full college experience- which we are not getting this virtual semester. The Columbia experience this semester is much less valuable than it usually would be, yet they're charging the same price for this lesser product. I just want to come to school and be successful pursuing something I love, and meet other interesting like-minded people- but money is my only gatekeeper, and that's not how things should be. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
66 | Anonymous | I am an international student, who received two scholarships and took a loan to study at SIPA. Due to COVID-19 and the death of a friend from this virus, I returned to my country, and finished last semester online. During this semester, fall 2020, I decided to take a Leave of Absence, as in my view paying full tuition for online classes of questionable quality is highly unfair. At the same time, I learned last week that I lost one of my scholarships - an external award, and so I am left only with an award I received from Columbia. At the same time I learned that my private lender does not issue loans for schools in the NY state any longer. This way, I lost 2 key sources of my funding. I tried to reach out to the Financial Aid office of my school, but it turns out this office does not provide any aid to its students. The contact is very formal, very rigid and I find it very unhelpful and unwilling to help. Obviously, I was only informed that my award cannot be increased at all. At the same time the emergency aid equals to USD 5,000 per award, which is merely any contribution considering the tuition fee this year at over USD 66,000. I am left completely alone with my problem, I feel that my school does not support me at all, even with a mere guidance on financial aid opportunities that I could be suitable to apply for. I am currently at risk of having to withdraw from my program, as I might not be able to cover the costs of attendance for the last two semesters of my program. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
67 | Anonymous | The Covid-19 crisis and its consequences for student life are not the fault of any member of the Columbia community, students included, so it is unjust for the students to bear the whole of the year’s financial burden. Even with formal learning shifting to online with new technology, informal learning—such as peer-to-peer interactions, conferences, lunches, and informal and unplanned talks with the faculty will be extremely less common, engaging, or feasible. We will have an uphill battle to form lasting personal and professional networking relationships and that should be recognized by the university. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
68 | Anonymous | This pandemic caused me to lose my job and has made the program completely remote with no end in sight. It's been difficult having no workspace, no real ability to connect with professors, and the constant eye strain from zoom. Thinking that this semester is at all what Columbia normally provides is wrong. We were never able to have networking opportunities or events to meet with other students and faculty. Faculty have mentioned it being difficult to get to know their students. Field placement is a whole other issue where its completely remote, not necessarily where you wanted to be placed, or you simply dont get one at all. Contacting advising and financial aid about options on how to get the opportunities I was promised when applying has been a nightmare. Every admin has been a brick wall where they do not listen and are completely inflexible during a time when we the students are expected to pay full tuition for a completely different and lacking experience. If the students are expected to accommodate so should admin in actually being flexible and helping their students over just taking our money and leaving. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
69 | Anonymous | I would just add certain thoughts from the perspective of a post-bac premed in the GS program: I have found it very hypocritical that the Columbia administrators have plead for shared sacrifice and unity in a challenging and unprecedented time while not budging when it comes to the bottom line. Virtual classes are not equal to in-person education. I think most students and professors, at this point, would admit to that patent reality. Large lecture courses are one thing. But the fact that GS premeds are charged the full tuition rate for 'virtual' lab credits is indefensible. The credits may be the same (however, I would note it has not been made crystal clear that med schools will accept virtual labs across the board) but the education is not. One of my lab classes is being organized on the fly week to week by the graduate student teaching staff. The other is content to offer shoddily produced 'videos' of the given experiment and then leave us to write it up from there. Columbia is not keeping their side of the deal on this specific point for post-bac pre-med students, and we are the ones obligated to pay the tuition charges up front and in full, or else take on huge private-bank owned student debt. It is hypocritical and extremely frustrating. And it has not been addressed in any real way. And that is not to say that I expect Columbia to be able to offer virtual lab classes on perfect-par with an in-person lab experience. That may not be possible. Further, I understand teaching staff were and are doing the best they can in unprecedented circumstances. But that is not the issue. The issue is that, in this, we to date have not gotten what has been paid for at a premium price. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
70 | Anonymous | i think it's insane that we are one of the only schools that didn't get a tuition cut during the pandemic. all we get it "not an increase" like jeez thanks a lot. Columbia has a big endowment, bigger than Tufts, Williams and Barnard all of whom gave cuts. They need to compensate us for the reduced Columbia experience. They cite "increase costs" associated with the pandemic - what, Zoom licensing? Meanwhile thousands of classrooms go unused which means reduced utilities, staffing for cleaning and maintenance and cleaning products since they are not needed...Many are working from home so any transportation imbursement is not needed. Faculty offices are not used either, so why are they citing extra costs? WE are the ones in financial hardship having lost our jobs before the school year, having to order grocery delivery with fees, etc to remain safe. President Bollinger makes $1 million per year...how about decreasing this to $400k? Is he the leader of education or a businessman? These actions feed into Columbia's tarnished reputation as a usurious ivy that thinks too highly of themselves and is only for rich kids. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
71 | Anonymous | Once I got accepted at Columbia, I kept on asking for information about the tuition cost but nobody could give me a clear response. Once they finally did, I received the tuition price per "semester" and I understood it was the amount to pay twice a year. I felt it was reasonnable particularly because we were in the pandemic and the classes were virtual. A few weeks ago, I received the request to pay in January and when I asked the financial services, I finally understood the tuition price was per quadrimester and therefore needed to be paid 3 times a year which make it more complicated for me to keep up with my budget. I am a foreigner, I don't have access to fianancial aid as I don't have a green card. This "untold" part of the tuition will put me in some financial hardship. I think that a such big institution as Columbia should have more transparency regarding the pricing and not having such tricks to get paid. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
72 | Anonymous | Work full time and go to school at night but hours at work have been cut and rent is still due. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
73 | Anonymous | My EFC from fafsa was 8000 dollars per year. I am a dual ba student and received a lot of scholarship money from SciencesPo for my first two years in France, which is already a lot cheaper than Columbia to begin with. I received enough financial aid to reduce my tuition to around 45-50k per year. I need more money to graduate debt free. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
74 | Anonymous | My experience through this pandemic and even in some ways before it started, I have felt unsupported by my school. It has felt like being in a relationship where I am being gaslighted. Administration makes promises, and they tell me how hard they are working for me. However, on the other side this is not, and never was, true. I had to accept through my masters at Columbia University and now well into my doctorate that what I am paying for is simply that piece of paper and the Columbia name. They will never have my back, and it's hard to say I feel proud to be a student here. I worked my butt off, maintained over a 4.0 GPA for 3+ years, and did everything ever asked of me. But when I needed support in my career and other academic concerns that were promised during the recruiting process, they have not come through. To continue to charge the same tuition for sub-par video lectures and self-study modules is an insult to every student that attends this institution. I hope that Columbia will have the integrity to honor its students and relieve the immense economic and emotional burden placed on us in this time. It is the least they could do to show that they actually appreciate their students. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
75 | Anonymous | I went on strike with GSOC-UAW 2110 during the epic 2005-2006 graduate worker strike at NYU. It is outrageous that an institution as wealthy and powerful as Columbia will not recognize the basic demands outlined here and that students are, again and again, forced to spend their time organizing to have their voices heard. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
76 | Anonymous | I was billed $12,000 for video calls last fall. Given the safety nets provided to Columbia by the federal and state governments, the same safety nets being withheld from students claimed as dependents in their parents' tax filings, Columbia's tax-free endowment billions, the recession, and the furloughing and unemployment in New York City, that bill is absurd at best and unjust at worst. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
77 | Anonymous | I think I speak for us all when I say that we are grateful for this world-class education, but in order to fully capitalize on the collective talent acknowledged by Columbia through our acceptance, we can't spend all of our free time and mental energy on making enough to survive. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
78 | Anonymous | I support this strike because the price of private education-not just Columbia-is absurd in America. If us striking is one of the first steps necessary to maybe enact larger change, let's fucking do it. No one should be paying off debt for decades because they wanted a higher education. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
79 | Anonymous | I have a close friend who is of the utmost top caliber character - and yet due to her race or immigration status - she was financially harassed via two married people who work in different teams administratively. One was in the Student Finance office, the other was in an Admissions office. Together they made it extremely challenging if not nearly impossible for her to succeed in her PhD program toward a degree in Neuroscience or similar. Eventually, she had to take time away from her educational investment to deal with mounting personal stress in life. She deserves a march for her rights to equal and fair opportunities. Columbia University insurrection by bigots results in my friend stalling professionally and personally as her dreams and aspirations were yet again put on hold from no fault of her own... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
80 | Anonymous | I explored taking the semester off, but the financial aid office advised that I may not get the same awards next year if I did that. So now, I am paying tuition to watch classes on my computer and I am miserable. The only way I think about this year is as a box to be checked to get to graduation rather than the opportunity for growth and learning that it should be. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
81 | Anonymous | I became a student mom on July 2019, my husband lost his job in March 2019 and was unemployed for 1,5 years. He worked as a programmer and has PhD degree in math. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
82 | Anonymous | Columbia Law charges over $72,000 PER YEAR for no reason other than that they *can.* I'm not sure how that can possibly be construed as socially responsible. If Columbia cares about social justice as much as it likes to say it does, it must lower tuition. There can be no other alternative. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
83 | Anonymous | I want to share that teacher's college charged me 3000 dollars during spring semester when i returned home due to the pandemic and aging parents who needed my help. They did not refund my money after I went to at least 5 administrators including the dean of two schools and the ombuds office. They had me take an incomplete and will withhold my graduation if i do not complete this 3k course by the end of spring term. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
84 | Anonymous | If I could withhold tuition payments, believe me I would. Unfortunately, my payments will be made through the disbursement of loans I signed for months ago. Tens of thousands of dollars— to be clear. If I cancel the disbursement of these loans in an effort to “withhold payment,” I may not be able to make any payment at all when the time comes, (regardless of whether or not this strike results in a reduction.) I am devastated by my inability to participate in what I believe to be not only a critical moment in Columbia University’s history, but in the history of American higher education. We are approaching a collective breaking point. The climate is disintegrating, the economy is unstable, and a novel respiratory illness is ravaging society. Which is all to say: the world is in need of great minds... great minds across all fields and disciplines— not only to solve these problems, but to make sense of the ways in which such problems reverberate. We the students choose to attend universities like Columbia to better our chances at making a difference. But what difference can we make when every post-grad anxiety is magnified by heretofore inconceivable levels of debt and financial hardship? Columbia University’s endowment is 555,000 times my annual income. Think about this. I would have to live and work for five-hundred-and-fifty-five-thousand years to acquire that level of wealth, that level of power. In brief: I would have to become a God. Just think about this, and also about one other thing, this simple fact, not open to interpretation: Columbia University’s student population (no matter how many “demands” are listed in the mission statement of this strike) is not actually asking the university *for* anything at all. We are simply hoping that the University — which, from where I stand, wields the power of a God— will ask *us* for a little less. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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