Though the protest tents have long been tucked away, and megaphones don’t echo chants across College Walk, the Student Coalition on Expansion and Gentrification plans to press on with its campaign of criticism of Columbia’s Manhattanville expansion.
SCEG made its mark in Columbia’s activist history last fall during an infamous 10-day hunger strike that aimed to demonstrate “the urgency of a student voice that is continually being marginalized.” In addition to demands that the administration support enhanced diversity on campus, SCEG called for revisions to the University’s expansion project in Manhattanville. The latter ultimately went unrealized, and Columbia’s project was approved by the New York City Council in December.
But with many details still to be worked out, SCEG thinks it has more work to do.
“We want to be a source of information, a constant voice of critique,” said Andrew Lyubarsky, CC ’09. The group’s goal has never been to stop the expansion, Lyubarsky said, but to make sure it was done in a democratic and sustainable way. Now, their priority is to secure ‘affordable housing’ for Manhattanville residents—who live in a neighborhood where the median family income is significantly below Manhattan’s average. The improvements that Columbia’s expansion will bring to the surrounding area could potentially increase rent and other living costs there.
SCEG created a “No Dough” petition, to be signed by students and alumni who pledge not to donate to Columbia until the University met their expectations in negotiating with members of the Manhattanville community. The coalition also reached out to several of the cultural groups on campus, such as the Black Students Organization and United Students of Color Council, as well as the student government, in hopes of gathering more support from different fronts.
To familiarize students with the Manhattanville area, SCEG plans to offer tours of the neighborhood into which Columbia will expand. “The tours will be an educational tool,” said Victoria Ruiz, CC ’09. “It’s something we feel all students should take a part of.” On Saturday, SCEG brought students to the soon-to-be-opened West Harlem Waterfront Park and Restaurant Row on 12th Avenue between 131st and 135th Streets. Ruiz said that more tours will take place in Manhattanville and other areas of Manhattan—such as Hell’s Kitchen, East Harlem, and Chinatown—to raise discussion about and interest in gentrification.
A conference on the Manhattanville expansion is also in the works, scheduled to take place in the beginning of April. SCEG hopes to book both faculty and celebrity speakers for the event, as well as housing activists and student leaders from other schools.
“The goal of the conference is to put the expansion in a wider context,” said Giuliana Chamedes, GS ’10. “We want to show that this expansion is part of a series of broader trends. We’re not opposed to the expansion in general; we’re opposed to one which disregards the people living here.”