Do Columbia students feel safe after the Paris attacks?

Over the past few days our news feeds turned blue, white and red. The words “we are not afraid” and “pray for Paris” appear again and again as we scroll down Facebook or Instagram.

But are we not afraid?

Following Friday’s events, some people have expressed concern about possible threats in cities like London and New York. Did these events change our sense of security in New York?

We asked a few students what they think.

Clara Gutwein, Senior, Barnard

I was actually thinking about that extensively last night… I don’t feel super unsafe personally. It’s not that I don’t worry that there would be an attack in the United States. But I think it is unlikely that they would attack Columbia.

I don’t think it’s a target that makes sense logistically. Although I do hope they have more security during finals when everyone is in Butler. I feel safer in the U.S. than I would in Europe. If I was a terrorist, I would attack a Black Friday sale, so I’ll definitely stay away from those.

Mrad Ahmed and Asif Shah, Juniors at Columbia College

Mrad: I never felt safe anyways so I just feel less safe. It’s worse and worse. My parents were there. They freaked out all night.

MJ Engel, Junior, Columbia

I don’t think I should live in fear after these events because I think the perpetrators of these events aimed to stimulate fear. These events made me reflect about how we perceive violence in our country. I’m thinking about acts of violence that have taken place in recent years, for example the Charleston shooting, when Dylann Roof killed nine people.

It makes me think about how we can promote peace, especially in terms of gun laws, and racial and gender equality. Although we are lucky not to live in fear of an imminent attack like the one in Paris, violence still manifests itself in our country.

Michelle Lee and Sean Liu, SEAS Seniors

Michelle: I don’t feel unsafe. But I think it’s scary to think about. We weren’t here when it happened. We were at the airport in California. I didn’t feel it. I feel it more now.

Sean: Yeah, now that you mention it. My initial reaction was sadness that people would do this ugly thing out of nowhere.

Michelle: Columbia is pretty removed from the city. I’m from DC so I’m more afraid for my parents; it’s a smaller city.

Natasha Porter, Columbia College Sophomore

No I don’t feel safe, but then again we can’t change our lifestyle or habits because that’s just capitulating to terrorism.

Anisa Tavangar, Sophomore, Barnard

I think so yeah, I feel safe. These types of things happen in a lot of places all around the world. We are lucky to live in a place where this is a rare occurrence. What happened in Paris was an exceptional event.

Just before the Paris attacks, there was a bombing in Beirut where a similar number of people died but we expect this to happen more in that region.

And so we don’t give as much attention to those because we expect it more there. It’s a very disgusting expectation to have but it’s a reminder of how lucky we are to live here. There is no point in living your life in fear.

Bolko von Hochberg, School of Continuous Education and Cedric, Columbia College, both exchange students

Bolko: Yes about the same as before. I mean you don’t generally feel safe in New York.

Cedric: Same here.

Yeon Park, Senior, Columbia College

Let me think. Yes, I feel safe in New York. I’m not trying to downsize what happened in Paris, but people die every day. That quote by the Syrian president, where he says Paris just experienced what Syria has been facing every day in the past five years, reminds us that the media is Western focused and the Paris attacks became a bigger deal because they happened in Paris, not a small city in India.

It’s epistemically and metaphysically possible that I could get shot in five seconds or tomorrow so personally feeling in danger doesn’t help me move on. But it’s important to be involved in a dialogue about how to minimize the death of innocent people.