Summary and Action Items
Thank You, Solidarity Forever!
What to do if you received a disciplinary warning?
Get Involved: General Body Meeting
Students Support Divestment: Referendum Updates
THE PEOPLE UNITED WILL NEVER BE DEFEATED! THANK YOU FOR SHOWING UP!
Almost 300-500 of you showed up last Thursday despite extreme intimidation and repression attempts by Columbia University’s administrators, proving once again our collective dedication to a free Palestine. We are stronger together. Thank you for your labor and courage in the face of oppression. Unfortunately, some students may have fallen prey to university surveillance and received warning emails related to their attendance. To reiterate our safety procedures:
If you have received an email, immediately contact cuapartheidivest@gmail.com with your name, signal number, and affiliated group. Do not respond to the University's email. Do not communicate any sensitive information over email. We will connect you with CUAD’s legal team and numerous other students who have received this email in order to support each other and build community in light of Columbia’s repression. CUAD members will also help you draft an email response and connect you to faculty supporters. We will keep us safe.
Also, DO NOT SCAN IDs before or after actions as much as possible — this is one of the university’s most used surveillance tactics.
Support suspended students by sending an email! Takes 30 seconds at the link: Tell Columbia: No Suspensions or Evictions for Pro-Palestine Students - Action Network
GENERAL BODY MEETING
Please join us for our general body meeting of all CUAD coalition organizations!
CUAD committees will report back on our work of the past few months. We will discuss recent actions, goals, and strategy, including the referenda/resolutions for divestment and the escalating campus repression. There will also be time to ask questions, provide feedback, discuss concerns, and learn about ways to get more involved. Please connect with your organization’s CUAD contact for more details.
STUDENTS SUPPORT DIVESTMENT : REFERENDUM VICTORIES! (and dates to remember)
Columbia Law School | VICTORY ❤️🔥
In another BDS victory, Columbia Law School Student Senate officially passed an advocacy statement on April 8th calling on Columbia to divest from Israeli apartheid and genocide! This is only the beginning. We will not rest until Columbia divests!
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) | VICTORY ❤️🔥
Also on April 8th, Columbia's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Graduate Council (ASGC) voted on a divestment resolution that passed with near unanimous approval, reaffirming GSAS students' moral commitment to refuse complicity in genocide. Columbia schools are making historic divestment gains across campuses!
🚨 Columbia College | Vote April 12 @ 11 AM🚨 VOTE HERE
Columbia College is currently holding its own referendum vote, with the ballot opened at 11:00 am April 12th (THIS MORNING) and closing on 10:00 am April 19th. Make sure to get your vote in before then! The referendum ballot will arrive through LionMail on the same form as the Columbia College Student Council elections and your vote will be anonymous (secret ballot). The email subject line is “Columbia Elections Board.” The referendum will be about divestment, the Tel Aviv Global Center, and the dual-degree program. It will be located on the last page of the ballot, so please ensure you do not miss it. Vote TODAY!
Barnard | Vote April 19 @ 12:00 PM
Barnard will be holding its referendum for divestment from Israeli apartheid and genocide. Voting will open at 12:00 pm April 19th and close on 12:00 pm April 27th. The referendum will be the same ballot as the Student Government Association elections and sent on MillieLink as a secret ballot.
School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) | TBA
SEAS will be holding its poll on student opinion on divestment on a separate ballot from the Engineering Student Council elections. The timeline and methods for the poll this semester will be released soon, so stay tuned!
🚨School of General Studies (GS) | SIGN PETITION🚨
Columbia’s School of General Studies is a more contentious school when it comes to complicity with Israeli apartheid and occupation due to their organized cooperation with Israeli educational institutions. GS houses the Dual BA program with Tel Aviv University, which is closely tied to CUAD’s “academic boycott” demand that lists the severance of ties with this program. Also listed is a more broad “financial boycott” which includes the full divestment from companies complicit in the genocide in Palestine. As such, the grassroots support of GS students is imperative to a victory over corporate interests. We are calling for all GS students to SIGN the petition for a referendum and to SHARE WIDELY. SIGN HERE: GS Petition for Referendum
Columbia Climate School | TBA
A divestment resolution at the Climate School is currently in the works! The Climate School submitted a resolution in early April, which the student body as well as the Climate School Student Council (CSSC) will be voting on after preliminary discussions. On April 11th, the CSSC held an open discussion to hear student body support or opposition to the resolution. The Climate School will be having another meeting, followed by a CSSC vote based on discussions with the general student body. Please show up to demonstrate that students support divestment!
Teachers College | Student Senate Vote April 22
The TC Senate advised that the divestment resolution should be in the format of a letter of support (LOS). The LOS was written and read in the senate on April 8th. After a Q&A, the senate voted on whether their members should vote immediately on divestment or wait for further deliberations. As the majority voted for the latter, the final reading of the letter and the subsequent vote will take place on April 22.
The student movement for a free Palestine grows stronger everyday with the labor of students like you. We could not have won without the support and hard work of our comrades – of you –who put in the work everyday for our collective freedom. With great gratitude and fervor, we will not rest until Columbia completely divests!
If you are interested in organizing a referendum campaign at your school or want to help pass the referenda that are already initiated, please email us at columbiaapartheiddivest@proton.me!
What Can You Do To Help?
Currently, the best way to support CUAD is make sure that you and your community are up to date and keeping in touch with us. Make sure to follow us on Instagram @cuapartheiddivest, if you can, and share this newsletter with others. Please subscribe to this newsletter to stay informed.
Contact us here with any questions: columbiaapartheiddivest@proton.me.