On April 28 and 29, Barnard and Columbia faculty held a 25-hour speak-out in defense of academic freedom and student safety, calling on University administrators to make campus safer for the community.

On April 28 and 29, Barnard and Columbia faculty held a 25-hour speak-out outside the Earl Hall gates on 117 St. and Broadway. The speak-out demanded “academic freedom & student safety,” according to a flyer posted on X. The protest began at 12 pm on April 28 and continued throughout the night until about 10 minutes after 1 pm the following day, with a number of speakers sharing their thoughts throughout. 

Nearly the entire speak-out was captured via YouTube livestream. The videos depict individuals sitting against the Earl Hall gates, taking turns speaking through a microphone. Demonstrators held signs reading “Protect our teaching” and “Protect our students.”

At the beginning of the speak-out, faculty members stood behind signs that had been fashioned into a podium. Multiple branded microphones from various news outlets were positioned in front of the primary speaker. The first speaker began the demonstration by discussing recent cuts to medical research and the threats they pose. “We gather today not just in anger, but in solidarity; not just in protest, but in defense of something bigger than all of us,” she said.

One Bwog reporter covered the final hour of the speakout. Speakers covered a variety of topics, including the safety of Jewish students at Columbia and the importance of continuing to stand up and speak out. One speaker noted that the “University is being disassembled around us…and it is being done in the name of jews and antisemitism.”

Columbia Journalism professor Helen Benedict spoke on the emotional and cultural shift on campus, remarking, “I have never seen my students so frightened and so depressed as they are now” and describing the current situation as “dangerous,” both on- and off-campus.

References were made to recent events involving antisemitism and white supremacy, highlighting the prevalence of these narratives among prominent individuals. Among the events mentioned were Representative Elise Stefanik’s reference to white replacement theory, and salutes made by both Elon Musk and former Trump advisor Steve Bannon making what appear to be Nazi salutes. “This regime is not interested in protecting us at all,” one speaker said.

Later, the topic of discussion shifted to students being “attacked” and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) presence on campus, with one speaker calling out Columbia, stating that when such attacks take place, “you don’t give lists of students to persecute as [Columbia has] done.”

The speaker discussed the surveillance on campus through security cameras targeting students and making them easily identifiable. “How can (students) feel safe when they know their visas can be revoked?” they said.

One individual spoke to the “real” threat students are facing: “The real threat to students does not come from protesters; does not come from these supposed antisemites; the real threat comes from the government.” They continued to describe the University’s role in handling this threat, saying “[Columbia] has not only refused to protect them but actively betrayed them. Stand up, Columbia, protect academic freedom. Protect your students and protect your faculty. Stand up and fight back.”

Faculty recounted historical events and discussed the conflation between Jewish identity and Zionism as an ideology. “Being uncomfortable is not the same thing as being discriminated against,” one speaker said.

Many other speakers took turns with the microphone, including Barnard Professor and Chair of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Elizabeth Bernstein. Several speakers spoke about being Jewish, remarking that “on our very campus, Jewish students and faculty are living active tenets of our religion, my religion. Jews who are not monolithic.” One faculty member concluded that “we have a responsibility to our neighbors.”

Over the course of 25 hours, over 325,000 words were spoken. As the speak-out concluded, demonstrators participated in one minute of silence followed by a loud scream. One speaker offered a call to action: “Let us go forth with fear, with courage, with rage to save our world,” adding that “many students have demonstrated that fear does not stop them from doing what’s right.”

After the speak-out, Bwog reached out to Professor of Social Work Susan Witte, who shared her thoughts on the speak-out’s execution and effectiveness. What “may appear just another end of spring term for some, for those paying attention, we are facing grave consequences and dangers to the independence of the University,” she said. 

In regard to the University’s research funding cuts and contract cancellations, Witte noted that “none of the grants had anything to do with antisemitism, and conditioning federal funding on anyone’s speech is illegal. Science is under threat as the Trump administration is terminating millions of dollars in health and climate grants.”

She spoke to censorship from the Trump administration with websites and syllabi being edited to “no longer use…gender, LGBTQ, diversity, equity, inclusion, woman, and more.” This results in professors and other educators not being able to teach, research, serve the community, or practice as professionals, she said. 

The speak-out “became one mechanism to invite those who wished to share their story, their concern, to do so.” Witte referenced the recent 25-hour durational protest led by Senator Cory Booker in the U.S. Senate criticizing the Trump administration. Participants of the the speak-out at Columbia “ hope to raise consciousness and awareness among all of us about what’s at stake, to build solidarity across campus, and to encourage everyone to see that they have a voice and role to play in fighting back, making their voice and concern heard,” Witte said.

The speak-out was built on six demands developed by Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) Stands Up, a grassroots group. Their demands include standing up for higher education; fighting back against federal attacks; protecting and defending students and “international scholars;” preserving academic freedom, freedom of expression, and “Columbia University’s autonomy to govern these;” re-establishing and affirming tenets of diversity, equity, and inclusion; and protecting researchers and providing backup funding.

The speak-out was called in response to Columbia Acting President Claire Shipman’s April 18 announcement to review the Senate, “the [University’s] only shared governance structure.” Witte described a review of the senate as “the last straw in consolidating all of the decision-making power with the Board of Trustees.” While the organizers of the speak-out hope that the Board of Trustees will work with the campus community, “it does not appear based on any evidence that that is happening,” Witte said.

After quickly reaching out to contacts across the University, different units were each invited to lead one hour of the speak-out. Organizers provided guidelines and support to coordinate each hour’s programming. “We secured participation from 17 schools and departments within five days,” Witte said. “Many many individuals we contacted explained their fear of speaking out, and yet most of them decided that it was more important to come forward to show solidarity in the belief that we can save our campus and the soul of the University.”

When reflecting on the event, Witte was struck by the breadth of speakers represented: “There were so many voices and so different, but each one earnest, sincere, concerned, and urgent.” She echoed the sentiment of Classics Professor Joseph Howley, who remarked at the end of the event, “This is what a university looks like.”

Speak Out via Bwog Staff