Protesters End Hunger Strike

The 10-day hunger strike, waged by students opposing numerous administrative policies, ended Friday night, following a request made by the Coalition to Preserve Community for the strikers to rescind their final demands.

At the strikers’ 9 p.m. vigil, about 70 students, alumni, and neighborhood residents gathered as the remaining strikers—including four students and Barnard professor Dennis Dalton—broke their fast by eating bread.

“When the administration told me I had to stop [the strike] because of my health, I was totally unwilling,” said Bryan Mercer, CC ’07, who broke his strike after receiving a medical warning on Wednesday. “Hearing from the community, their concerns, and seeing the administration make no move forward on the expansion demands meant that it made a lot of sense to move on to new tactics.”

A total of seven students and one professor engaged in the hunger strike to demand changes to University policies regarding academics, administration, and the proposed Manhattanville expansion, at various points since Nov. 7. Following a series of initiatives posed to strikers by the administration on Wednesday, the protesters revoked all demands except for those regarding the expansion.

“It’s the best resolution because we end the strike out of victory with the administration and respect from the community,” said Victoria Ruiz, CC ’09 and one of the strikers. Earlier in the day, the strikers had released a joint statement with the University’s administration. “The administration recognizes the deep seriousness of the student strikers’ commitment to institutional changes that will reduce the marginalization experienced by some of our communities and enhance inclusiveness for all,” it stated. “The students recognize the strength of the administration’s commitment to advancing change through the channels that represent the interests of the whole Columbia community.”

The CPC, a neighborhood group opposed to Columbia’s Manhattanville plans, lauded the strikers’ success in publicizing their concerns about the expansion, but said they believe students’ health would become at risk before Columbia would agree to their demands. “We do not want the students’ health and welfare to be sacrificed in waiting on Columbia to engage in an honest dialogue and negotiation with the community,” the Coalition wrote in a statement.

Strikers emphasized that their protest of the expansion will persist, despite the end of their fast.

“The day after the revolution is just as important as the revolution itself,” hunger striker Emilie Rosenblatt, CC ’08, said. “Our work is just beginning.”

Local activists present said they have strong faith in the students’ continued support in their fight against the expansion.

“We await for them after the land-use proposal to stand with us, and with the Harlem community, in front of the bulldozers,” CPC member Tom DeMott said.

“This is the end of phase one of student activism to demand changes necessary to make them not only 21st century professionals but 21st century citizens,” Community Board 9 member Dr. Vicky Gholson said. “I was very disappointed that Columbia could not collectively come together.”

Not all CB9 members supported the strikers’ tactics.

In a message to the strikers, CB9 chairmain Jordi Reyes-Montblanc said that while he respected their efforts, he did not feel it was the best method of affecting the expansion plan. “I again beseech you to stop your hunger strike as it pertains to the CU Expansion issues,” Reyes-Montblanc wrote on Nov. 15. He issued a similar statement at the beginning of the strike. “The ULURP process is alive and well and I am confident that your personal sacrifices have been noted and opened some eyes at both the City Planning Commission and the City Council.”

“It would be highly detrimental if your health deteriorates and places your lives in danger with the onset of inclement weather,” he continued. “We need you healthy and in fit condition for the struggles still ahead.”

The strikers initially demanded that Columbia immediately recall the 197-c rezoning plan for Manhattanville, now going through the city’s public review process, and revise it until it met with local community approval. They later presented a list of six more incremental demands on the expansion, including that the University forego the use of eminent domain to acquire private property.

“Five days ago, we were prepared and ready to let them [the strikers] off the hook because we saw the handwriting on the wall,” DeMott said. “We did not want them to waste their energy for too long in futile negotiation.”

Ruiz thanked all those who supported the strike and acknowledged a small group of students who stood near the vigil holding signs stating “650+ Columbia students disagree,” referring to a Facebook group which was launched in opposition to the strike.

“We get to work and community build until those signs don’t exist,” Ruiz said.

An anti-strike movement organized over the course of the strike has questioned the hunger strikers’ commitment to representing all students’ views, claiming that their demands should not necessarily have been prioritized by the administration when many students may not agree with them.

“I don’t think that the negotiations were made in a fair or democratic manner or were representative of the student body,” Josh Mathew, CC ‘09, said.

The undergraduate student councils are currently discussing hosting a town hall where students can ask questions and air grievances about the strike.

“I have no problems with their demands—the big issue lies with legitimacy,” Tim de Swardt, CC ’08, said, who helped organize a rally protesting the strike last Thursday.

“No one knows if they’re an elected student group, and their demands affect everyone.”

Dalton described the rally of several hundred in support of the strike Wednesday night.

“Of all the moments I’ve had on this campus that has to rank at the top,”
“You are building a spark of hope in a world full of atrocity and I’m deeply grateful for the wonderful things you’ve done here,” Aubrey Brown, a former Columbia graduate student who was arrested during the 1968 protests, told the strikers.

Subject to faculty approval, Columbia has committed to several academic initiatives.

These include the shift of Major Cultures to a seminar-style class and an “unprecedented” level of student input in the faculty hiring process for the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race.