We, faculty members of the History Department of Columbia University, condemn the use of police force against students, as well as the ongoing presence of the NYPD on our campus. We insist upon the rights of students and scholars to engage in nonviolent protest or public speech, and we deplore the arbitrary disciplining of students, faculty, or staff for doing so. We are also dismayed that the use of public force resulted from a decision-making process from which faculty were excluded.
We disagree about many of the issues being debated on campus this year, but we agree that history shows how deeply damaging it is for a university to meet students’ protests with violence and criminalization. Since the last time the police were called on this campus in large numbers, in 1968, Columbia has worked hard to restore community, build shared governance, deal peacefully with protest, and maintain a culture of respectful debate. We must hold on to this legacy.
SIGNED:
Piccato, Pablo, Professor of History
Guridy, Frank, Dr. Kenneth and Kareitha Forde Professor of African American and African Diaspora Studies and Professor of History
Kosto, Adam, James R. Barker Professor of Contemporary Civilization
Pizzigoni, Caterina, Associate Professor of History
Chauncey, George, DeWitt Clinton Clinton Professor of American History
Baics, Gergely, Associate Professor of History and Urban Studies, Helman Faculty Chair of Urban Studies – Barnard College
Billows, Richard, Professor of History
Blackmar, Elizabeth, Mary and David Boies Professor of American History
Blake, Casey, Professor of History
Caglioti, Angelo, Assistant Professor of History
Chamberlin, Paul Thomas, Associate Professor of History
Chazkel, Amy, Bernard Hirschhorn Associate Professor of Urban Studies
Coleman, Charly, Associate Professor of History
Connelly, Matthew, Professor of History
De Grazia, Victoria, Moore Collegiate Emerita Professor of History
Elshakry, Marwa, Associate Professor of History
Erickson, Ainsley, Associate Professor of History and Education Policy – Teachers College
Evtuhov, Catherine, Professor of History
Fields, Barbara J., William R. Shepherd Professor of History
Haley, Sarah, Associate Professor of History
Hallett, Hilary, Mendelson Family Professor & Director of American Studies
Howell, Martha, Miriam Champion Emerita Professor of History
Hymes, Robert, Carpentier Professor of Chinese History – East Asian Languages and Cultures
Jacoby, Karl, Allan Nevins Professor of American Economic History
Karjoo-Ravary, Ali, Richard W. Bulliet Assistant Professor of Islamic History
Klein, Herbert, Gouverneur Morris Professor Emeritus of History
Kreitman, Paul, Associate Professor of 20th Century Japanese History – East Asian Languages and Cultures
Lightfoot, Natasha, Associate Professor of History
Lurie, David B., Associate Professor of History – East Asian Languages and Cultures
Mann, Gregory, Professor of History
Mazower, Mark, Ira D. Wallach Professor of World Order Studies; Director, Columbia Institute for Ideas and Imagination
Mazurek, Malgorzata, Associate Professor of Polish Studies
McCurry, Stephanie, R. Gordon Hoxie Professor of U.S. History
Milanich, Nara, Professor of History – Barnard College
Nadasen, Premilla, Professor of History – Barnard College
Naylor, Celia, Professor of History and Africana Studies – Barnard College
Ngai, Mae, Lung Family Professor of Asian American Studies / Professor of History
Nguyen, Lien-Hang T., Dorothy Borg Associate Professor in the History of the United States and East Asia
Pedersen, Susan, Gouverneur Morris Professor of History
Pflugfelder, Gregory, Associate Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures
Philips-Fein, Kimberly, Robert Gardiner-Kenneth Jackson Professor of History
Rao, Anupama, Professor of History – Barnard College
Robcis, Camille, Professor of History and French
Roberts, Samuel, Associate Professor of History, Sociomedical Sciences and of African American and African Diaspora Studies
Rosner, David, Ronald H. Lauterstein Professor of Sociomedical Sciences/Professor of History
Saada, Emmanuelle, Professor, Department of French
Sen, Tunç, Assistant Professor of History
Senocak, Neslihan, Associate Professor of History
Sivaramakrishnan, Kavita, Associate Professor of Sociomedical Sciences
Smith, Pamela, Seth Low Professor of History
Stafford, James, Assistant Professor of History
Stanislawski, Michael, Nathan J. Miller Professor of Jewish History
Steingart, Alma, Assistant Professor of History
Stephanson, Anders, Andrew and Virginia Rudd Family Foundation Professor of History
Stephens, Rhiannon, Professor of History
Tiersten, Lisa, Professor of History – Barnard College
Tooze, Adam, Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Professor of History
Tuttle, Gray, Leila Hadley Luce Professor of Modern Tibetan Studies – East Asian Languages and Cultures
Van de Mieroop, Marc, Professor of History
Wennerlind, Carl, Professor of History – Barnard College
Witgen, Michael, Professor of History
Wright, Marcia, Emerita Professor of History