Valeria Escobar

When Jesus Mancilla, CC ’22, came to Columbia, he realized that identity would play a larger role in his relationships than it had back home in his predominantly Latinx community in Northern California. Mancilla, who identifies as a Latino first-generation low-income student, said he felt more anxious about his experiences with consent due to the racialized rhetoric of sexual misconduct accusations.

In light of the official release of the Department of Education’s new proposed regulations regarding sexual misconduct, the University will stand by its values that emphasize student safety and support, according to Executive Vice President of University Life Suzanne Goldberg. Under federal mandate, however, Columbia’s own policies and procedures—particularly those regarding adjudication processes—may be forced to change.

Columbia’s Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action received 174 allegations of discrimination and discriminatory harassment from individual complainants in the 2017-18 academic year, a number that has increased by 54 percent from the 2016-17 academic year, according to first-ever annual report from the EOAA. The number of gender-based misconduct reports made to EOAA also increased by 46 percent from the prior academic year.

Panelists broke down the implications of Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s contentious confirmation to the Supreme Court, at an event hosted by anti-sexual assault advocacy group No Red Tape on Monday.

The Office of University Life has released a statement in solidarity with Columbia’s transgender community, two days after the Trump administration’s announcement of a newly proposed interpretation of Title IX that would effectively erase the federal recognition of transgender Americans.

Following Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, Columbia and Barnard students have voiced their fear that Kavanaugh’s example—including public hearings on his alleged misconduct as a teenager and college student—may perpetuate misunderstandings surrounding consent and discourage survivors from reporting sexual assault at Columbia.

First Vice President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans spoke about the potential collapse of the European Union and outlined means for remedying its fragmentation during an address in Low Library on Monday.

At the Columbia Political Union’s first debate of semester, President of the Roosevelt Institute Ricardo Jaramillo, CC ’19, and President of Columbia University Democrats, Joanna Cohen, CC ’20, debated prison justice reform.