What Do We Stand For?

This past month, there have been several bias incidents on campus, a disturbing trend that deserves our community's attention and discussion. As the product of the reaction to previous bias issues on campus, the Community Principles Initiative is meant for times like this. Unfortunately, up until now, the project has excluded much of the student body. As they are organized, the principles are unenforceable, non-binding, and will not likely lead to productive discussion or action. It seems unlikely that, as written, these statements will ever be useful to the community. Over the next few weeks, students and the University's administration must decide whether they are willing to lay out concrete, actionable expectations. Otherwise, the CPI will be little more than a running joke.

The Community Principles cover issues of intellectual discourse, respect, and accountability. The four points encourage students to behave responsibly and honestly when interacting with other students. We applaud these values in theory. But due to their general nature, it is difficult to come to a consensus about how to follow the guidelines, and it will be nearly impossible for these to actually affect the way students behave on campus. Many students are concerned that the statement has been watered down to the point of inefficacy.

Additionally, the preamble indicates that violators will not be punished and that the principles are not considered rules of conduct. This lack of enforceability renders them toothless. Due to the all-encompassing nature of the principles, it is hard to actually take offense at any of the values the statement calls for. Among those emphasized are intellectual discourse, respect for the varied experiences of community members, and responsibility for one's actions. But because these principles cannot be enforced, they would require active adoption and practice by every member of the community to be effective—something that may not be accepted given the small percentage of the community that was involved in their formulation.

Discussion and argument are never lacking on this campus, but "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week" made it obvious that not everyone is clear on what counts as intellectual discourse. Members of Columbia's community should take the presentation of the statement as an opportunity to address criticism of the process and of the actual statement—especially given that it is not a final draft. Supporting the Community Principles Statement shows solidarity for the people affected and hurt by recent acts of bigotry, and such solidarity is endlessly more effective than ignoring prejudice with the hope that it will go away. But the current Community Principles are more likely to allow for prejudice than prevent it. The idea behind the principles is a good one, and a document that makes a strong statement about what Columbia will and won't allow could be very effective. However, its current form is at best a first step.