Minouche Shafik

Message to the Columbia University Community on Recent Campus Unrest

delivered 3 May 2024

[AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text version below transcribed directly from audio]

These past two weeks have been among the most difficult in Columbia's history. The turmoil and tension, division and disruption have impacted the entire community. You, our students, have paid an especially high price. You lost your final days in the classroom and residence halls. For those of you who are seniors, you're finishing college the way you started: online.

No matter where you stand on any issue, Columbia should be a community that feels welcoming and safe -- for everyone. We tried very hard to solve the issue of encampment through dialogue. Many people who gathered were largely peaceful and cared deeply about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Academic leaders talked with¹ leaders for eight days and nights. [The] university made a sincere and good offer; but it was not accepted.

A group of protesters crossed a new line with the occupation of Hamilton Hall. It was a violent act that put our students at risk as well as putting the protesters at risk. I walked through the building and saw the damage, which was distressing.

But despite all that has happened, I have confidence. During the listening sessions I held with many students in recent months, I've been heartened by your intelligence, thoughtfulness, and kindness. The ones that impressed me the most were those who acknowledged that the other side had some valid points.

We need more of that at Columbia.

Everyone one of us has a role to play in bringing back the values of truth and civil discourse that polarization has severely damaged. Here at Columbia, parallel realities and parallel conversations have walled us off from other perspectives. Working together, I know we can break down these  barriers.

As many of you know, I was born in the Middle East. I grew up in a Muslim family, with many Jewish and Christian friends. I spent two decades working in international organizations with people from every nationality and religion in the world, where, if you cant bridge the divides and see the other side's point of view, you can't get anything done. I learned from that experience that people can disagree and still make progress.

The issues that are challenging us -- the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, anti-Semitism, and anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bias -- have existed for a long time; and Columbia, despite being a remarkable institution, cannot solve them single-handedly. What we can do is be an exemplar of a better world, where people who disagree do so civilly, recognize each other's humanity, and show empathy and compassion for one another.

We have a lot to do, but I am committed to working at it every day and with each of you to rebuild community on our campus.

¹ A rhetorically sensitive construction compared with the more common "talk to." The latter tends to carry a more authoritarian-styled bearing -- however subtle --  between and among discussants.

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