Ivyletter 8/10/2020
"We must continue to vigorously oppose immigration policies that damage Columbia"
Columbia Puts Pressure on Graduate Students
Columbia University has been under fire from the Graduate Workers of Columbia Union for a number of policies that put additional stress on its graduate community.
Last month, the Executive Vice President of Arts and Sciences Amy Hungerford sent an email to student and faculty instructors encouraging them to “reconsider the modality of your courses,” read: please teach in-person. This came after most instructors indicated over a survey that they would prefer to teach online.
Hungerford seems to cite undergraduate pressure in their decision to request instructors teach in-person or hybrid classes. She writes “to invite students back to a prepared campus only to offer them mostly Zoom classes in their dorm rooms and apartments will be a great disappointment to them.” This tracks with a number of lawsuits against universities including Columbia over whether last spring’s experience warrants full tuition.
The same email cites pressure from the Department of Homeland Security and their revised policy that would prevent new international students from entering the United States without in-person classes as an additional reason to reconsider. However, Inside Higher Ed reports that graduate students in teaching or research positions won’t get paid if they’re not in the United States. This is in contrast with other higher education institutions committed to paying students abroad. Columbia did sign on to the amicus brief opposing DHS’ previous policy, which banned all international students who didn’t attend in-person classes from entering the United States.
At the same time, graduate students who weren’t able to make rent during a recession currently cannot register for classes, Columbia Daily Spectator reports. Many Columbia graduate students live in Columbia-owned housing and therefore pay rent to Columbia…and get paid by Columbia. Students have been forced to take out mortgages and high-interest cash advances to avoid a registration hold, which would also affect their ability to complete their programs.
Amongst League, 20% of Students Defer Enrollment
At Harvard and Yale, 20% of students have decided to defer enrollment this coming semester because of expected COVID-19 changes to campus life and learning.
The information was published before the release of a SimpsonScarborough survey, Inside Higher Ed reports, that suggests that about 40% of first-years are considering not attending in the fall. This suggests that, overall, the numbers could be worse, but some students are responding negatively to COVID-19 reopening plans.
A Daily Pennsylvanian survey which asked students whether they plan to return to campus suggests that students returning to campus are listing academic experience and social life as their top reasons, despite a nearly completely virtual experience. In the survey, where data was taken in late July, about 7% of students considered or are planning to take a gap year or leave of absence.
Students Rally Against The Dartmouth Review
After the Blake Neff scandal at Fox News, a thousand Dartmouth affiliates are calling for the college to disassociate with The Dartmouth Review, a conservative college publication financially independent from Dartmouth College. The Review published a response dissociating itself from older editorial decisions while asserting their right to use the Dartmouth name independent from the college.
The Review has a sordid history which the petition referenced, including a standoff with a Black music professor, harassing LGTBQ students, and disrespecting Native Americans. But Neff graduated in 2013; he published articles that could be seen as signs of the Blake Neff who worked at Fox News. Just last month, the Review published an article that cited the Center of Immigration Studies, which gets criticized by conservative think-tanks, and is considered an anti-immigrant hate group. In the response itself, the publication called out by name faculty that signed on to the petition, which is reminiscent of how Review staffers treated Bill Cole, the Black music professor in the 1980s.