In an email sent to Columbia College and Columbia Engineering students on Sunday, November 3, Dean Shih-Fu Chang announced the passing of SEAS junior Jonathan Nalikka. Barnard students were later notified with an email from Dean Leslie Grinage. Editor’s warning: Student death.

The New York Civil Liberties Union has issued a letter to Barnard President Laura Rosenbury, alleging that College policies prohibiting political expression on departmental websites and requiring websites to be approved by the Office of the Provost violate academic freedom. 

Christian Stohler, DMD, DrMedDent, will end his tenure as Dean of the College of Dental Medicine and Senior Vice President of Columbia University Irving Medical Center at the end of this month.

A coalition of student groups, including Barnard-Columbia Abolition Collective, Student-Worker Solidarity, and Columbia-Barnard Young Democratic Socialists of America, has announced plans to mount a tuition strike ahead of the Spring 2024 payment deadline. Among other demands, organizers hope the move will pressure the University to divest from Israel.

Jerome Davis will end his tenure as Secretary of the University at the end of 2023, but will remain a part of the University’s administration in an advisory role until June 2024.

On Monday, November 20, alumni of Columbia and Barnard gathered outside of Columbia’s main gates to protest the University’s recent suspension of Students for Justice in Palestine and BC/CU Jewish Voice for Peace, participating in a “denouncement ceremony” and “un-graduating” from the University.

In an open letter sent on November 17, elected officials urge Columbia President Minouche Shafik and Senior Executive Vice President Gerald Rosberg to reinstate Students for Justice in Palestine and BC/CU Jewish Voice for Peace for the remaining part of the semester.

On Wednesday afternoon, moments after a faculty protest concluded on Low Steps, demonstrators gathered outside the entrances to Barnard and Columbia to protest the suspension of Students for Justice in Palestine and BC/CU Jewish Voice for Peace.  Content warning: graphic descriptions of violence, guns.

On Wednesday at 1 pm, University faculty members gathered on Low Steps to protest the recent suspension of Students for Justice in Palestine and BC/CU Jewish Voice for Peace, and to demand the University affirm its commitment to free speech. Content warning: mentions of violence.

On Monday, Columbia President Minouche Shafik, alongside the Columbia University Irving Medical Center, announced a multi-pronged plan to respond to the abuses of former CUIMC gynecologist Robert Hadden. Shafik’s statement also included the first public apology from Columbia University for its role in the case. Content warning: This story contains mentions of sexual assault.

Three days after the University announced it would suspend Students for Justice in Palestine and BC/CU Jewish Voice for Peace, an open letter titled “From Jewish Students: Protecting the Free Speech of our Peers” began circulating among Columbia and Barnard students. 

After two protests mounted on College Walk, students at Teachers College gathered Thursday afternoon for a walkout of their own in solidarity with Palestine.

On Friday, the University announced that Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and BC/CU Jewish Voice for Peace, two student groups responsible for organizing a number of recent demonstrations on campus, would be suspended as groups for the remainder of the fall semester.

On Thursday, a gathering to support the hostages of Hamas and a walkout to support Palestine both mounted on College Walk, drawing an increased NYPD presence on campus, renewed gate closures, and additional barricades.

The Columbia Social Workers for Palestine, a new student collective at the School of Social Work, organized a sit-in on November 8 in support of Palestine.