The Barnard Columbia Solidarity Network is protesting in front of Low

A network of six CU groups is mobilizing in a common struggle for liberation on Low steps. 

The Barnard Columbia Solidarity Network accuses Columbia of prioritizing profit over people, calling Columbia University a “historically and structurally oppressive institution”.

Activist Elana Shlakshana said: “Different activist groups on campus decided to protest together against oppression at Columbia.”

The network is composed of six organizations: Mobilized African Diaspora, Columbia Divest for Climate Justice, Divest Barnard, Student-Worker Solidarity, No Red Tape and the International Socialist Organization.

Together, they demand:

1. That Columbia stops supporting the fossil fuel industry, which they argue is a source of profit that causes “environmental destruction and death”, especially in Black communities. 
2. That Columbia establishes a “rape crisis center that is physically open 24hours/day” to support women, queer, trans and gender nonconforming people of color who face “disproportionate violence”. 
3. That Columbia increases campus jobs wages to $15 per hour, and reduces the “financial burden and instability that Black and low-income people experience at CU”. 
4. That Columbia hires more faculty of color to “benefit the academic experience of marginalized students of color”.
5. That Columbia increases admission of Black students, especially low-income and local students. 6. That Columbia secures jobs and housing for the Black communities affected by Columbia’s expansion, in Harlem and the Bronx.