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‘An intimidation tactic’: Students report feeling unsafe with increased NYPD, Public Safety presence
By Gabriella Gregor Splaver / Senior Staff PhotographerPublic Safety and the New York City Police Department have increased their presence on and around the Morningside campus amid a surge in student, faculty, and alumni protests.By Maya Stahl • November 22, 2023 at 4:18 AM
By Maya Stahl • November 22, 2023 at 4:18 AM
Increased Public Safety and New York Police Department presence on and around Columbia’s Morningside campus over the past several weeks in response to on-campus protests has led to heightened tensions and students feeling unsafe, according to several student groups.
University President Minouche Shafik and Barnard President Laura Rosenbury previously communicated in emails to the community that they are coordinating with the NYPD because students have “expressed concern” for personal security amid campus activism, protests, and doxxing. Faculty and student groups have since called on administrators to roll back NYPD and Public Safety presence on campus.
The Barnard-Columbia Abolition Collective—formed in 2022 to organize community-based models of care and safety without police, prisons, and the carceral state on campus—has “heard from many Black and Brown students that the presence of police on campus has been extremely triggering and actively makes them feel unsafe,” the collective wrote in a statement to Spectator.
“The major increase in security officers is emblematic of Columbia’s long-standing pattern of leveraging its relationship with NYPD and its massive public safety department to intimidate students involved in activism on campus,” the collective wrote. “These actions do not only constitute shameful repression tactics, but also dismiss the collective trauma such a presence imposes on Black and Brown students.”
Campus protests on Oct. 12 marked the beginning of an increase in NYPD and Public Safety presence on and around the Morningside campus. The University has also restricted access to the Morningside campus to Columbia ID holders on six separate occasions ahead of planned demonstrations.
“While there have been no credible threats impacting safety at Morningside or any of Columbia’s campuses since the start of the terrorist attacks against Israel on October 7, over the past few weeks, we have increased our public safety presence across all our campuses, including an increase in both the frequency of mobile and foot patrols with additional guard services and staffing at campus access points,” University spokesperson Samantha Slater wrote in a statement to Spectator.
Slater wrote that the University is “working closely” with outside firms, and is in “regular contact” with the NYPD.
“At their discretion, the NYPD are also assisting with on-campus, large scale demonstrations, for the safety of all participants and community members,” Slater wrote. “They are responsible for ensuring the safety of all New Yorkers – including those on Columbia’s campuses – and are not here to police our campus but rather to help ensure the safety of all. As always, Public Safety is committed to our values of inclusion and belonging on campus.”
The Columbia chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace questioned how the gate closures made campus safer in an Oct. 24 Instagram post.
“There has been no public explanation for this policy whatsoever. We can assume that it is for safety reasons given the heightened hostile media attention and tension recently,” the post read. “But how, exactly, are we rendered safer? It feels more like an unnecessary restriction on freedom of movement than a legitimate safety measure.”
Shafik announced on Oct. 18 that the University had increased Public Safety presence across all Columbia campuses and is “working with outside security firms for additional support” and “in regular contact with the New York City Police Department.”
According to Slater, the University is receiving additional information from other security consultants regarding events on campus and in New York City.
“The NYPD, FBI, and our security consultants provide us daily, specific intelligence updates on activities taking place both on and off campus in the community and wider city,” Slater wrote.
In an email sent to the Barnard community on Oct. 26, Rosenbury announced plans to increase security on campus in response to protests and doxxing of students on and near the Morningside campus. She also wrote that the college is in “daily dialogues with the NYPD and regular communication with safety personnel at Columbia.”
“The College continues to provide updates and statements on the Response to the Current International Conflict webpage, including responses regarding campus safety. The safety and well-being of our community members is our president’s top priority,” a Barnard spokesperson wrote to Spectator.
[Read more: Rosenbury follow-up email on violence in Gaza and Israel denounces ‘anti-Zionism,’ draws criticism for ‘biased rhetoric’]
In a statement to Spectator, Nicholas Brown, CC ’26, political chair of the Black Students Organization, wrote in a statement to Spectator that he was “far from surprised” by the decision to increase police presence on and around campus.
“My primary concern was what this would mean for Black and brown students even when the protests weren’t happening,” Brown wrote. “As someone who had police officers in their high school daily, I know how police often harassed, questioned, and threatened us, and worried about it repeating here.”
Brown wrote that his experience with increased police presence on campus has not been the same as white students.
“I have been stopped at the gate twice to have my ID thoroughly checked, with one officer feeling the need to grab my arm to prevent me from entering campus,” Brown wrote. “Meanwhile, groups of white students entered with only a quick flash of their ID or none at all.”
Josiah Keys, CC ’26, vice president of the Black Students Organization, wrote that the increased police presence raises questions about the University’s “true motivations,” citing that on-campus protests have remained consistently peaceful.
“Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for institutions to weaponize the police against BIPOC students, particularly when we engage in protests that deviate from the University’s own interests,” Keys wrote. “Institutions such as Columbia are well aware that the presence of the NYPD can serve as an intimidation tactic, effectively stifling student organizing and activism.”
Barnard faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community members published an open letter on Oct. 30 titled “Academic Freedom Under Attack at Barnard College” in response to Rosenbury’s Oct. 26 email. The letter, which has been signed by over 1,000 University affiliates, says that Rosenbury’s email “escalates threats to student and faculty safety.” The letter expresses concern about her response to tensions on campus.
In the letter, faculty called on Rosenbury to “de-escalate the situation on our campus” and change her most recent plans to increase safety officers on campus. The letter also demands “rolling back surveillance and policing on campus, which ranges from the actual presence of security officers, to the use of anti-discrimination policy and resources to surveil and punish speech, to encouraging reporting for punitive purposes.”
In another open letter addressed to Columbia administration, alumni also condemned the University’s “failure to protect its students” and the closing of Morningside campus “when students organize and gather for pro-Palestinian marches and vigils.”
The Black Law Student Association published a statement on Friday requesting the “immediate reassessment of campus security that acknowledges the safety of Black students as it relates to the NYPD.”
The statement reads, “the dramatic increase in police presence on our campus poses an immediate and pressing concern for the safety of our members. The NYPD has a long and disturbing history of violence against people of color, particularly Black people. This is also true in the context of protest.”
The Black Law Student Association wrote that police presence “signals decreased safety for people of color,” citing that “bias prevails in even Columbia’s own public ‘safety’ officers, as demonstrated by the gross treatment of Alexander McNab in 2019.”
In 2019, Alexander McNab, CC ’19, a Black Columbia student, was physically restrained by Barnard Public Safety officers inside the first floor of the Milstein Center for Teaching and Learning. The incident, posted online in a viral video, sparked national conversation about racial bias at Barnard and Columbia and the restructuring of Barnard’s public safety department.
Nayzak Wali-Ali, Law ’24, a member of the Black Law Student Association, said the administration’s decision to increase police presence is “a fear tactic rather than to maintain safety.”
“Police officers, for communities of color, are correlated with more violence than there is safety. To have that increased number just strolling around while you’re going to class is a really scary feeling,” Wali-Ali said. “And you’re worried whether the things you’re doing can be perceived criminal, even if you’re just going through your life.”
Keys wrote that police presence is “a form of manipulation by the University” that can target and prevent students from protesting.
“Police presence stifles student’s ability to protest because it adds more tension onto an already tense situation. It prevents students from being able to organize effectively because there is always that fear that if you do one small thing, you will end up in handcuffs with your face pushed to the ground,” Keys wrote. “We should be able to organize without worrying about writing our emergency contacts on our arm just in case we catch the wrong cop on the wrong day.”
In response to an on-campus protest on Nov. 14 against the suspension of SJP and JVP, student groups practiced “cop-watching” on social media. On Instagram stories, the Barnard-Columbia Abolition Collective posted pictures and videos of where NYPD officers were located. The stories included recordings of what officers said to students and protestors.
“BCAC is bringing the abolitionist practice of cop watching to Columbia. It is a practice of holding police accountable and also letting each other know where there is police presence in our community,” the collective wrote. “We want the NYPD to know they are being watched and we want our fellow students to know that there is a community looking out for them. We won’t let any instance of police misconduct be swept under the rug. If they are going to surveil us and target us, we are going to have our eyes on them. When the system and its institutions fail us, we keep us safe.”
Jeanine D’Armiento, chair of the executive committee of the University Senate, said that the senate was involved in the discussion to allow NYPD on campus for Oct. 12 and Nov. 15 protests, as required by statute 444f in the Rules of University Conduct. The statute reads that if the President and a majority of a panel established by the University Senate executive committee decide a demonstration poses “a clear and present danger,” the University has the authority to “take all necessary steps to secure cooperation of external authorities to bring about the end of the disruption.” However, D’Armiento said that the discussions did not extend to later protests.
The Rules of University Conduct date back to 1968, established after a series of protests against the Vietnam War and a planned gymnasium in Morningside Park. During the protests, the NYPD arrested hundreds of protesters and injured dozens. In the fallout, the Rules of University Conduct established a process involving the newly created University Senate for deciding to bring police to campus.
“We did approve of the NYPD coming on campus on Oct. 12 when we were informed it was necessary and there could be issues,” D’Armiento said. “But since then, we have only reengaged with the University on Nov. 15.”
Keys and Brown wrote that students will continue to protest in the face of police presence.
“What the Police Presence creates is a negative connotation around student organizing which can prevent students from getting involved in causes for Justice, However, in the face of this adversity, the police presence also serves as a confirmation that our efforts are making a difference,” Keys wrote. “The Administration only seeks to strike fear into us through increasing policing because we strike fear into them when we use our voices for good.”
Staff Writer Maya Stahl can be contacted at maya.stahl@columbiaspectator.com. Follow Spectator on Twitter @ColumbiaSpec.
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