Send a letter to Columbia administrators today to express your support for our tuition strike and its demands!
Over 4,500 Columbia students have signed on in support of the tuition strike, making it the largest in history.
We need as much support as possible to protect against the administration's retaliation, including the late fees that were imposed on students.
Our demands are as follows:
1) Columbia must alleviate the economic burden on students by reducing the cost of attendance and increasing financial aid.
- Reduce the cost of attendance (including tuition, fees, and room & board) by at least 10%.
- Increase financial aid by at least 10%.
- Replace the “student responsibility” with grants.
- Offer financial aid for summer classes for all schools at Columbia
- Forgive all late fees and other forms of retaliation for unpaid bills for the duration of the pandemic.
- We also demand that this reduction and increased aid should not come at the expense of instructor or worker pay, but rather at the expense of bloated administrative salaries, expansion projects, and other expenses that don’t benefit students and workers.
2) Columbia must fulfill its responsibilities to the people of West Harlem by committing to provide employment, education & affordable housing, and to end expansion.
- See Mobilized African Diaspora's demand letter for more details: tinyurl.com/MADdemandletter
3) Columbia must defund Public Safety and invest in community safety solutions that prioritize the safety of Black students and West Harlem residents, and repair harm caused by prior racist practices of Public Safety.
4) Columbia must commit to complete transparency about the University’s investments and respect the democratic votes of the student body regarding investment and divestment decisions. This includes respecting the referendums at Barnard and Columbia College to divest from companies involved in human rights violations, divesting fully from fossil fuels, and respecting the results of future referendums relating to investment decisions.
- See Extinction Rebellion petition and Columbia University Apartheid Divest petition for more details.
5) Columbia must bargain in good faith with unions on campus around their key demands for improved compensation, benefits, and protections. This includes guaranteeing protections to international students and granting union recognition for MA and undergrad student-workers.
- See Graduate Workers of Columbia initial bargaining goals for more details
This is part of a nationwide struggle against neoliberal austerity in higher ed. In order for it to succeed, we need supporters around the country.
