Madina Toure
2015-02-08T23:00:02Z
Seniors at the School of General Studies are continuing to grapple with the consequences of the recent change in the date of their Class Day ceremony, as student leaders and administrators debate how best to accommodate seniors' friends and families.
On Monday, GS Dean Peter Awn said that Class Day will take place on May 13, a day earlier than originally scheduled, and will overlap with the Baccalaureate Service, where several GS students are scheduled to speak. The change is due to the security measures being taken for President Barack Obama, CC '83, who is speaking at Barnard's commencement later that day. The arrangements would have required GS students and their guests to arrive at 5:30 a.m. to pass through a security checkpoint.
On Tuesday night, the General Studies Student Council held a town hall in which students and council members voiced their frustrations about the change, which comes within a few weeks of the ceremony and will force many guests to modify their travel plans.
In a display of unity among the undergraduate colleges, student leaders from Barnard, Columbia College, and the School of Engineering and Applied Science, including several student council members, released a statement early Wednesday morning calling on the University to hold a graduation event for GS—paid for by the Columbia and Barnard administrations—during the originally scheduled time frame, and to issue a formal apology.
Barnard President Debora Spar said that a "modest fund" that she established along with Awn and University President Lee Bollinger should help attenuate the financial impact of the rescheduling.
"We hope that the fund established to assist seniors and their families to offset additional expenses provides some relief. We also hope to be as helpful as we can, given the constraints under which we are all operating," Spar said.
According to Anna O'Sullivan, assistant director of communications at GS, the school has already processed several requests and started disbursing monies from the fund to students whose families will incur additional expenses to attend Class Day.
"Individuals are allocated funding based upon need so for now it's premature to provide totals," O'Sullivan wrote in an email.
In a statement released Wednesday night, the University said that much of the reaction to the rescheduling was "misinformation" and stressed the difficult of moving the ceremony to a different campus site. Some students had suggested Barnard's campus or Wien Stadium at Baker Field.
"We find the resulting inconvenience to graduating General Studies students and their families deeply regrettable, and we are committed to helping ensure that they do not have to bear the financial cost of this change in order to accommodate the unique aspects of presidential logistics for Barnard's ceremony," the statement read.
Engineering Student Council Vice President of Policy Logan Donovan, SEAS '13—who co-authored the student statement with Barry Weinberg, CC '12 and former Student Governing Board chair—created a Change.org petition on Wednesday expressing support from all the undergraduate schools for GS seniors. As of early Thursday morning, the petition had 469 signatures.
GSSC President Jacqueline Thong, GS '12, said she met with Awn on Wednesday to present the council's resolution, survey data, and student comments to Office of the President and the Dean of Students.
"We are turning our attention to reaching out to students to help them in any way we can to help them cope with the changes, which includes pointing them to use the travel reimbursement fund, or to help match them with students that offered their homes as lodging for out of town guests," Thong said.
The senior class council is working with the deans to get student feedback on a celebratory event. Thong said that it would likely take place at an off-campus venue.
The Engineering Student Council is making a website, similar to its ticket exchange site for Commencement, to list people who are willing to host family members of GS students inconvenienced by the change. Jim Huang, SEAS '12—who is spearheading the effort with Mailing Wu, ESC senior class vice president—said that the council is hoping to have the website ready by Friday.
"A GS student who knew about our Commencement Ticket Exchange suggested the idea to us," Huang wrote in an email. "We felt that the website was easy enough to adapt from our own, so we took on the job independently of the other councils."
Still, some student council members said that they had yet to decide on any additional measures in support of GS seniors.
"We're still exploring a lot of possible options," Donovan said. "There's just a lot of people to talk to and a lot of logistics to work out and a lot of things going on. It all came up very quickly."
Aki Terasaki, CC '12 and president of Columbia College Student Council, said the council had also not decided on how it would help alleviate the costs for GS families. "There are different options but we haven't decided anything official at this point."
Jessica Blank, BC '12 and president of Barnard's Student Government Association, said that the SGA will make a decision on further action once GSSC has decided how it will proceed.
"We're sympathetic to their circumstances and we want to support them however we can," Blank said.
Blank said that GSSC approached SGA about holding the ceremony on Barnard's campus but that they could not fulfill the request.
"GSSC asked if Barnard space was being used that day and we looked into it and we found that unfortunately there are receptions being held across campus in all the large major spaces on campus, so that wouldn't allow for them to hold their commencement on Barnard's campus," she said.
Weinberg encouraged all students to express their solidarity with GS students more openly but added that it is unclear what student leaders will do next to address the issue.
"That sort of remains to be seen," he said. "We probably can't and shouldn't ourselves. GS students sort of have to decide what they want and we can't make their decision for them. Anything that we can do to make what they want happen."
Lillian Chen contributed reporting.
madina.toure@columbiaspectator.com
... On Monday, GS Dean Peter Awn said that Class Day will take place on May 13, a day earlier than originally scheduled, and will overlap with the Baccalaureate Service, where several GS students are scheduled to speak. The change is due to the security measures being taken for President Barack Obama, CC '83, who is speaking at Barnard's commencement later that day. The arrangements would have required GS students and their guests to arrive at 5:30 a.m. to pass through a security checkpoint.
On Tuesday night, the General Studies Student Council held a town hall in which students and council members voiced their frustrations about the change, which comes within a few weeks of the ceremony and will force many guests to modify their travel plans.
In a display of unity among the undergraduate colleges, student leaders from Barnard, Columbia College, and the School of Engineering and Applied Science, including several student council members, released a statement early Wednesday morning calling on the University to hold a graduation event for GS—paid for by the Columbia and Barnard administrations—during the originally scheduled time frame, and to issue a formal apology.
Barnard President Debora Spar said that a "modest fund" that she established along with Awn and University President Lee Bollinger should help attenuate the financial impact of the rescheduling.
"We hope that the fund established to assist seniors and their families to offset additional expenses provides some relief. We also hope to be as helpful as we can, given the constraints under which we are all operating," Spar said.
According to Anna O'Sullivan, assistant director of communications at GS, the school has already processed several requests and started disbursing monies from the fund to students whose families will incur additional expenses to attend Class Day.
"Individuals are allocated funding based upon need so for now it's premature to provide totals," O'Sullivan wrote in an email.
In a statement released Wednesday night, the University said that much of the reaction to the rescheduling was "misinformation" and stressed the difficult of moving the ceremony to a different campus site. Some students had suggested Barnard's campus or Wien Stadium at Baker Field.
"We find the resulting inconvenience to graduating General Studies students and their families deeply regrettable, and we are committed to helping ensure that they do not have to bear the financial cost of this change in order to accommodate the unique aspects of presidential logistics for Barnard's ceremony," the statement read.
Engineering Student Council Vice President of Policy Logan Donovan, SEAS '13—who co-authored the student statement with Barry Weinberg, CC '12 and former Student Governing Board chair—created a Change.org petition on Wednesday expressing support from all the undergraduate schools for GS seniors. As of early Thursday morning, the petition had 469 signatures.
GSSC President Jacqueline Thong, GS '12, said she met with Awn on Wednesday to present the council's resolution, survey data, and student comments to Office of the President and the Dean of Students.
"We are turning our attention to reaching out to students to help them in any way we can to help them cope with the changes, which includes pointing them to use the travel reimbursement fund, or to help match them with students that offered their homes as lodging for out of town guests," Thong said.
The senior class council is working with the deans to get student feedback on a celebratory event. Thong said that it would likely take place at an off-campus venue.
The Engineering Student Council is making a website, similar to its ticket exchange site for Commencement, to list people who are willing to host family members of GS students inconvenienced by the change. Jim Huang, SEAS '12—who is spearheading the effort with Mailing Wu, ESC senior class vice president—said that the council is hoping to have the website ready by Friday.
"A GS student who knew about our Commencement Ticket Exchange suggested the idea to us," Huang wrote in an email. "We felt that the website was easy enough to adapt from our own, so we took on the job independently of the other councils."
Still, some student council members said that they had yet to decide on any additional measures in support of GS seniors.
"We're still exploring a lot of possible options," Donovan said. "There's just a lot of people to talk to and a lot of logistics to work out and a lot of things going on. It all came up very quickly."
Aki Terasaki, CC '12 and president of Columbia College Student Council, said the council had also not decided on how it would help alleviate the costs for GS families. "There are different options but we haven't decided anything official at this point."
Jessica Blank, BC '12 and president of Barnard's Student Government Association, said that the SGA will make a decision on further action once GSSC has decided how it will proceed.
"We're sympathetic to their circumstances and we want to support them however we can," Blank said.
Blank said that GSSC approached SGA about holding the ceremony on Barnard's campus but that they could not fulfill the request.
"GSSC asked if Barnard space was being used that day and we looked into it and we found that unfortunately there are receptions being held across campus in all the large major spaces on campus, so that wouldn't allow for them to hold their commencement on Barnard's campus," she said.
Weinberg encouraged all students to express their solidarity with GS students more openly but added that it is unclear what student leaders will do next to address the issue.
"That sort of remains to be seen," he said. "We probably can't and shouldn't ourselves. GS students sort of have to decide what they want and we can't make their decision for them. Anything that we can do to make what they want happen."
Lillian Chen contributed reporting.
madina.toure@columbiaspectator.com
2014-08-24T17:15:13Z
Former Spectator staffers share their experiences and thoughts before graduation.
Crossing boundaries real and imaginary with Spec by Jessica Hills
Making a personal impact by Madina Toure
Confidence to take on chaos by Amber Tunnell
Us versus 'us versus them' by Derek Turner
... Crossing boundaries real and imaginary with Spec by Jessica Hills
Making a personal impact by Madina Toure
Confidence to take on chaos by Amber Tunnell
Us versus 'us versus them' by Derek Turner
2014-08-24T17:15:13Z
General Studies students expressed outrage about the University's decision to reschedule GS Class Day at an emotional town hall meeting Tuesday night.
GS Dean Peter Awn announced on Monday that Class Day will take place May 13, a day earlier than originally scheduled, and will overlap with the Baccalaureate Service, where several GS students are slated to speak. Administrators rescheduled Class Day from the morning of the 14th because President Barack Obama, CC '83, is speaking at Barnard's commencement later that day, and Class Day guests would have had to arrive at 5:30 a.m. to pass through a security checkpoint.
On Tuesday, Awn told students in an email that he, University President Lee Bollinger, and Barnard President Debora Spar had created a "modest fund" to compensate graduating seniors for additional travel expenses their families and other guests incur because of the rescheduling.
But at the town hall meeting Tuesday night—which was sponsored by the General Studies Student Council—many students were still upset. Three administrators were in attendance—Dean of Students Scott Halvorson, Dean of Enrollment Management Curtis Rodgers, and Leslie Limardo, an associate dean for academic and administrative support services. Halvorson, the only administrator to speak during the meeting, said he was "very moved" by students' responses.
"I just want to say that for the record that I, at least, do apologize to you and your families for what has happened," Halvorson said. "With that said, we absolutely do care, and it's been a difficult day for us It means a great deal to us, and I'm very sorry that this has happened."
Financial burdens
Some seniors at the town hall said that they or their families would have to miss Class Day—which serves as GS graduation—and others discussed the financial burden of their families have to make new travel arrangements.
Santana Inniss, GS '12, cried as she discussed her family's situation. She said that in addition to the financial burden to her family, her father has cancer, and her mother is disabled.
"I really do resent this climate on campus—Oh, you guys have to stop being angry,'" Inniss said, referring to backlash to GS students' reaction. "Honestly, if this was CC's [Columbia College] graduation being displaced, I don't think that this would be happening."
As of Tuesday at 5 p.m., 135 of the roughly 350 graduating seniors had responded to a GSSC survey. Fourteen graduating seniors said they would have to miss Class Day, and slightly less than half of those surveyed said they agreed with Awn's decision to avoid the 5:30 a.m. arrival time.
Thirty-eight percent said that only some of their family and friends would now be able to attend Class Day, and 24 percent said none of their friends and family would now be able to attend. The average financial impact of the rescheduling for GS students' families was $500.
At the town hall, students discussed ways to alleviate those financial burdens.
Early Wednesday morning, student leaders from CC, SEAS, and GS—including several student council members—released a statement expressing disappointment over the rescheduling and the manner in which it was announced. They called for the University to hold a graduation event for GS during the originally scheduled time frame, paid for by the Columbia and Barnard administrations.
"President Bollinger's e-mail did not acknowledge the enormous emotional and financial burdens the move of GS Class Day places on the families and friends of GS seniors," students wrote. "We request a formal apology to those students and their families that have been affected by the move."
Arakel Minias, GSSC's international students representative, suggested at the town hall that the University help students by offering inconvenienced families some of the money it would have spent to move Class Day to a different venue. Class Day is still being held on South Lawn, where Obama will speak the next day, though administrators had considered finding a new location instead of rescheduling.
Guy Tower, GS '12, suggested appealing to alumni for donations, and Senior Class Vice President Kyle Riggle suggested the administration help out with housing for guests, which Halvorson said was possible.
Ayla Kalani, GS '12, said that she has "hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt to repay," and that the financial burden should be placed on those responsible for the rescheduling. Elizabeth Littlefield, GSSC's alumni affairs representative, agreed, saying that it would be "appropriate for Barnard to chip in for a part of this."
GSSC passed a resolution calling for "guaranteed financial compensation for all fees incurred from altering planned travel and lodging," citing issues such as financial and logistical burdens, the last-minute nature of the announcement, Bollinger's "unsympathetic message," and the University's plans for "modest" financial reparations.
Last minute
Quite a few students at the town hall questioned why it took Columbia so long to make the decision to reschedule. Obama was announced as Barnard's commencement speaker March 3.
GSSC Comptroller Benjamin Briggs said that he realized right away that Obama's presence would cause a "massive security situation," and that administrators should have better understood that fact.
"I knew that, and I don't know anything about how to do this [security]," Briggs said. "I don't doubt for a minute that the deans and that the president are very intelligent people. They should have known that."
"While it is comforting and inspiring that the student council has invited us here to express our concerns, I am here to hold Bollinger, Awn, and Spar accountable for this situation and to insist that they actively and diligently participate in finding a solution and a conclusion," Jessica Durdock, GS '12, said. "This is not blame. This is about the leaders of this University taking responsibility."
Tower said he was concerned about the tone of the emails sent out concerning the decision.
"Every single one of them says that it's nobody's fault," Tower said. "I would like to know why this happened."
In their statement, students leaders said that they were "disappointed with the manner in which this change has been communicated to the GS student body." Riggle expressed concerns about GSSC being "left in the dark" about the decision.
"If we're not given that information, then how are they [students] going to get it?" he said.
Marginalized?
Another running theme throughout the town hall was the perceived marginalization of GS students, compared to students in other schools across the University. Adam Gentle, GS '15, said that the marginalization "must be coming from the very, very top of the University."
"I think for all of us that are not graduating, the best thing that we can do is support those who are graduating in whatever way they ask us to," Gentle said.
Students from the other undergraduate schools came to the town hall to show their support for GS seniors as well. Barry Weinberg, CC '12 and former Student Governing Board chair, said that he "actually gasped out loud" when he learned of the rescheduling, calling it an "affront" to the seniors at GS.
"It's not just GS alumni or GS students who stand behind you, but also a lot of your classmates at CC and Barnard and SEAS feel that this is deeply unfair," said Weinberg, who signed the student leaders' statement.
Engineering Student Council Vice President for Policy Logan Donovan, SEAS '13, said she appreciated all of the experiences she has had with GS students, describing them as "an integral part of this university." Donovan, who also signed the statement, called for "more work to be done with integrating the schools."
Jose Robledo, GS '12 and a University senator, though, said that some students who feel marginalized are not aware of the administration's efforts to help them.
"We're not being marginalized, but it sure as hell feels like it, and it sucks for it to feel like it so much, time and time and time again."
Also on Tuesday, GS Equal Treatment—a new group seeking to end what its members perceive as unfair treatment of GS—announced its GS Equality Fund ahead of a scheduled summer launch. The fund, a senior fundraising campaign similar to the Columbia College Fund, seeks to finance projects that try to close the perceived gap between GS and other undergraduate schools. Trexy Ching, GS '12, pledged the first donation to the fund, and Gentle donated later in the day.
Scott Bacon, GS '13 and GSSC's vice president of student events, said that he hopes that the rescheduling will lead to the four undergraduate schools "uniting in solidarity, with common causes under a common good." The student leaders wrote in their statement that "Representatives and members from all of the undergraduate schools stand in solidarity with graduating seniors of the School of General Studies."
"Though there are four separate undergraduate schools, we stand as one undergraduate student body," they wrote.
madina.toure@columbiaspectator.com
... GS Dean Peter Awn announced on Monday that Class Day will take place May 13, a day earlier than originally scheduled, and will overlap with the Baccalaureate Service, where several GS students are slated to speak. Administrators rescheduled Class Day from the morning of the 14th because President Barack Obama, CC '83, is speaking at Barnard's commencement later that day, and Class Day guests would have had to arrive at 5:30 a.m. to pass through a security checkpoint.
On Tuesday, Awn told students in an email that he, University President Lee Bollinger, and Barnard President Debora Spar had created a "modest fund" to compensate graduating seniors for additional travel expenses their families and other guests incur because of the rescheduling.
But at the town hall meeting Tuesday night—which was sponsored by the General Studies Student Council—many students were still upset. Three administrators were in attendance—Dean of Students Scott Halvorson, Dean of Enrollment Management Curtis Rodgers, and Leslie Limardo, an associate dean for academic and administrative support services. Halvorson, the only administrator to speak during the meeting, said he was "very moved" by students' responses.
"I just want to say that for the record that I, at least, do apologize to you and your families for what has happened," Halvorson said. "With that said, we absolutely do care, and it's been a difficult day for us It means a great deal to us, and I'm very sorry that this has happened."
Financial burdens
Some seniors at the town hall said that they or their families would have to miss Class Day—which serves as GS graduation—and others discussed the financial burden of their families have to make new travel arrangements.
Santana Inniss, GS '12, cried as she discussed her family's situation. She said that in addition to the financial burden to her family, her father has cancer, and her mother is disabled.
"I really do resent this climate on campus—Oh, you guys have to stop being angry,'" Inniss said, referring to backlash to GS students' reaction. "Honestly, if this was CC's [Columbia College] graduation being displaced, I don't think that this would be happening."
As of Tuesday at 5 p.m., 135 of the roughly 350 graduating seniors had responded to a GSSC survey. Fourteen graduating seniors said they would have to miss Class Day, and slightly less than half of those surveyed said they agreed with Awn's decision to avoid the 5:30 a.m. arrival time.
Thirty-eight percent said that only some of their family and friends would now be able to attend Class Day, and 24 percent said none of their friends and family would now be able to attend. The average financial impact of the rescheduling for GS students' families was $500.
At the town hall, students discussed ways to alleviate those financial burdens.
Early Wednesday morning, student leaders from CC, SEAS, and GS—including several student council members—released a statement expressing disappointment over the rescheduling and the manner in which it was announced. They called for the University to hold a graduation event for GS during the originally scheduled time frame, paid for by the Columbia and Barnard administrations.
"President Bollinger's e-mail did not acknowledge the enormous emotional and financial burdens the move of GS Class Day places on the families and friends of GS seniors," students wrote. "We request a formal apology to those students and their families that have been affected by the move."
Arakel Minias, GSSC's international students representative, suggested at the town hall that the University help students by offering inconvenienced families some of the money it would have spent to move Class Day to a different venue. Class Day is still being held on South Lawn, where Obama will speak the next day, though administrators had considered finding a new location instead of rescheduling.
Guy Tower, GS '12, suggested appealing to alumni for donations, and Senior Class Vice President Kyle Riggle suggested the administration help out with housing for guests, which Halvorson said was possible.
Ayla Kalani, GS '12, said that she has "hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt to repay," and that the financial burden should be placed on those responsible for the rescheduling. Elizabeth Littlefield, GSSC's alumni affairs representative, agreed, saying that it would be "appropriate for Barnard to chip in for a part of this."
GSSC passed a resolution calling for "guaranteed financial compensation for all fees incurred from altering planned travel and lodging," citing issues such as financial and logistical burdens, the last-minute nature of the announcement, Bollinger's "unsympathetic message," and the University's plans for "modest" financial reparations.
Last minute
Quite a few students at the town hall questioned why it took Columbia so long to make the decision to reschedule. Obama was announced as Barnard's commencement speaker March 3.
GSSC Comptroller Benjamin Briggs said that he realized right away that Obama's presence would cause a "massive security situation," and that administrators should have better understood that fact.
"I knew that, and I don't know anything about how to do this [security]," Briggs said. "I don't doubt for a minute that the deans and that the president are very intelligent people. They should have known that."
"While it is comforting and inspiring that the student council has invited us here to express our concerns, I am here to hold Bollinger, Awn, and Spar accountable for this situation and to insist that they actively and diligently participate in finding a solution and a conclusion," Jessica Durdock, GS '12, said. "This is not blame. This is about the leaders of this University taking responsibility."
Tower said he was concerned about the tone of the emails sent out concerning the decision.
"Every single one of them says that it's nobody's fault," Tower said. "I would like to know why this happened."
In their statement, students leaders said that they were "disappointed with the manner in which this change has been communicated to the GS student body." Riggle expressed concerns about GSSC being "left in the dark" about the decision.
"If we're not given that information, then how are they [students] going to get it?" he said.
Marginalized?
Another running theme throughout the town hall was the perceived marginalization of GS students, compared to students in other schools across the University. Adam Gentle, GS '15, said that the marginalization "must be coming from the very, very top of the University."
"I think for all of us that are not graduating, the best thing that we can do is support those who are graduating in whatever way they ask us to," Gentle said.
Students from the other undergraduate schools came to the town hall to show their support for GS seniors as well. Barry Weinberg, CC '12 and former Student Governing Board chair, said that he "actually gasped out loud" when he learned of the rescheduling, calling it an "affront" to the seniors at GS.
"It's not just GS alumni or GS students who stand behind you, but also a lot of your classmates at CC and Barnard and SEAS feel that this is deeply unfair," said Weinberg, who signed the student leaders' statement.
Engineering Student Council Vice President for Policy Logan Donovan, SEAS '13, said she appreciated all of the experiences she has had with GS students, describing them as "an integral part of this university." Donovan, who also signed the statement, called for "more work to be done with integrating the schools."
Jose Robledo, GS '12 and a University senator, though, said that some students who feel marginalized are not aware of the administration's efforts to help them.
"We're not being marginalized, but it sure as hell feels like it, and it sucks for it to feel like it so much, time and time and time again."
Also on Tuesday, GS Equal Treatment—a new group seeking to end what its members perceive as unfair treatment of GS—announced its GS Equality Fund ahead of a scheduled summer launch. The fund, a senior fundraising campaign similar to the Columbia College Fund, seeks to finance projects that try to close the perceived gap between GS and other undergraduate schools. Trexy Ching, GS '12, pledged the first donation to the fund, and Gentle donated later in the day.
Scott Bacon, GS '13 and GSSC's vice president of student events, said that he hopes that the rescheduling will lead to the four undergraduate schools "uniting in solidarity, with common causes under a common good." The student leaders wrote in their statement that "Representatives and members from all of the undergraduate schools stand in solidarity with graduating seniors of the School of General Studies."
"Though there are four separate undergraduate schools, we stand as one undergraduate student body," they wrote.
madina.toure@columbiaspectator.com
2014-08-24T13:34:56Z
GS Student Involvement:
