On Friday, March 13, Editor-in-Chief Eve Bertrand and News Editor Eira Prakash participated in a roundtable discussion with President Laura Rosenbury and senior Barnard Administrators to speak about a variety of topics pertaining to Barnard’s campus. 

The Barnard senior administration hosted a student journalism roundtable on Friday, March 13, with representatives from four different campus-wide news organizations, including Bwog. The administrators in attendance included President Laura Rosenbury, Provost and Dean of Faculty Rebecca Walkowitz, Vice President for Community Engagement and Lifelong Success A-J Aronstein, Vice President for Strategic Communications and Government Affairs Robin Levine, and Vice President for Inclusion and Belonging Akilah Rosado. These five administrators spent about an hour discussing a variety of hot-button issues relating to Barnard’s campus, community, and student life. 

The discussion began with the administrators introducing themselves and their jobs. Notably, President Rosenbury emphasized her great pride in Barnard as a school, and wanting to do better as the “best women’s college in the world.” The goal of the roundtable, as framed by President Rosenbury, was to engage with student media sources on campus to bring more transparency from Barnard’s leaders to the greater campus community. She acknowledged that “We have not always lived up to our hopes with our relationship to student media,” but that she and the staff were “committed to doing better.”

The questions from all of the student news sources fell into a few distinct categories: Barnard’s financial and administrative transparency, campus safety, free speech, the Epstein files, and the Barnard and Columbia relationship. Below are details from each topic of conversation. 

Campus Safety

Campus safety was raised frequently in the discussion, with questions about security expenditures, campus access, and ICE. President Rosenbury would not commit to transparency about expenditure on cameras, security gates, and other surveillance items. Instead, she noted that this information was part of Barnard’s annual financial statements. In reference to the break in at the 616 W. 116th Street dorm, Rosenbury emphasized that staff had received additional security training and that Barnard was working to increase the number of access attendants. This comes after Barnard fired 77 staff members during the summer of 2025 for “financial reasons,” despite which Rosenbury claimed that the number of staff members at Barnard had remained steady during her tenure. She cited the incident at a residence hall on March 3 in which local law enforcement were denied entry as an example of staff successfully following protocol. Later, when talking about ICE, Rosenbury reinforced the importance of campus safety protocols.

Rosenbury answered a question about suspensions, which was especially relevant because one of the participating journalists was suspended during the Butler sit-in protest in May 2025, despite being present in a journalistic capacity. Specifically, Rosenbury spoke about the Student Code of Conduct Pilot, which introduced a 24 hour minimum for suspended students to vacate their housing. She emphasized that the policy could allow for flexibility depending on the student’s needs.

In addition, Bwog asked about the future of campus access and the possibility of opening the gates. President Rosenbury answered that it was hard to know what the future might entail. She spoke about the same day campus registration policy the College introduced recently and a pilot of “on the spot” guest registration. Overall, Rosenbury said that the conversations about campus access are ongoing between Barnard and Columbia officials, although there is no definitive plan.

Financial and Administrative Transparency

Another important topic of discussion was administrative transparency, including Barnard’s finances, the Epstein files review, and admissions data. In response to a question about decreasing alumni donations, President Rosenbury stated that the college was speaking with different alumni groups both on Zoom and in person. Rosenbury acknowledged the historically low engagement of Barnard alumnae, especially at reunions, and said it was a goal of hers to increase engagement with the alumni community. She talked about trips to engage alumni, including ones with Vice President Aronstein to California and Florida. 

President Rosenbury also explained the results of the independent review of Barnard’s connection to Jeffrey Epstein, which found no meaningful relationship between any members of the College and Epstein as of February 12, 2026. Rosenbury clarified that legally, a review looks over what is public information—as in the public Epstein files—and determines whether a further investigation, which involves interviews, is needed. She emphasized that there was no direct communication between Francine Lefrak, a major donor to Barnard, or any other current affiliate of the College. This review differs from Columbia’s ongoing investigation, which uncovered relationships between Epstein and officials at the Dental School of Medicine and other faculty, and prompted further inspection.

Barnard did not release the official acceptance rate for the Class of 2029, which raised questions about their reluctance to publish admissions data. In a press release on August 27, 2025, officials stated that the acceptance rate was “about 10%,” an increase from the Classes of 2027 and 2028, which had a 8% and 9% acceptance rate respectively. Vice President Robin Levine said that Barnard wanted to encourage other ways of communicating excitement about the incoming class.

Free Speech

On the matter of free speech, Barnard senior staff emphasized the importance of respectful discussion and debate. Student questions referenced President Rosenbury’s 2025 op-ed titled “Now Is the Time for Colleges to Host Difficult Speakers,” published and sent to Barnard students a week after the assassination of conservative pundit Charlie Kirk. Specifically Bwog asked about how Rosenbury’s goals for discussion in the op-ed reconcile with the FIRE Free Speech Rankings, where Barnard placed last place. In response, Rosenbury talked about a survey sent to students in 2025, asking about when violence is an acceptable part of protest. She stated that the survey found, albeit with a low response rate, that Barnard students showed relatively high levels of acceptance for violence as part of political protest compared to other campuses. When pressed, she noted that the definition of “violence” was vague, and up to student interpretation. 

Vice President Rosado discussed the creation of a working group for a “listening tour,” where students and staff could explore suggestions for increasing the diversity of viewpoints on campus. Vice President Aronstein mentioned the event series “Hot Topics in Higher Education,” which aims to foster communication between students, faculty, and staff. The series includes a know your rights workshop, discussion on academic freedom, and panel about changes in education finance, according to an email sent to Barnard students on March 11, 2026. 

The Barnard-Columbia Relationship

Finally, Barnard senior administrative staff responded to questions about the evolving relationship between Barnard College and Columbia University. President Rosenbury said that it is “important to recognize that Barnard has always been a separate college,” but acknowledged its “close and special” relationship with Columbia. The Intercorporate Agreement between the two bodies, last updated in 2023, addresses topics ranging from academics to dining to athletics, but the relationship also has informal elements not part of the Agreement. Dean Walkowitz spoke about the collaborative effort of departments on both sides of the street, with Barnard and Columbia hiring a range of faculty with distinct research interests and specializations.

President Rosenbury disagreed with a question about the possible intentional separation of Barnard and Columbia, where students asked about the separation of NSOP programs and limits on the Columbia classes Barnard students can take. Rosenbury said she “wouldn’t frame it that way,” and spoke about her desire to reinforce Barnard’s identity as a historically female university. Walkowitz added that the shift of first-year curriculum has allowed students to take classes they want and need, and has made options better for students in all schools for the majors that are most in demand. 

The roundtable concluded with the officials thanking the student journalists, noting the value of diverse news sources and organizations on campus. Rosenbury stated, “Thank you again for the work you do … increasing transparency for our community.”  

Header via Bwog Archives