Columbia Disciplines Students Who Protested at Minuteman Talk

We previously reported (here) on protests at a talk by Minuteman founder Jim Gilchreist at Columbia last October. Three Columbia student protesters who have received censures from the university, Karina García, Martín López, and Cosette Olivo wrote “Case of Racism: Columbia University’s Two-Tiered Punishments” for Counterpunch (here). It begins as follows:

After over five months of disciplinary proceedings, we Columbia University students, who in October protested a speech by then Minutemen Project leader Jim Gilchrist, have been advised that Columbia University has issued discipline against us. These arbitrary and ridiculous punishments are the culmination of an arbitrary and ridiculous process, in which students were denied due process, presentation of any evidence or witnesses to substantiate specific charges, any legal representation, or any explanation of the basis for the disciplinary findings. Most atrocious is the fact that of the seven students, the three Latino students received the harshest punishments. In contrast, the non-Latino student protesters who were punished received “disciplinary warnings,” the lightest punishment available.

KJ