The School of International and Public Affairs on Thursday held an event at Low Library titled “The War in Gaza: Constructive Campus Conversations” featuring SIPA Dean Keren Yarhi-Milo; Amaney Jamal, dean of Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs; and event moderator Claire Shipman, CC ’86, SIPA ’94, co-chair of the board of trustees.

Students at the School of International and Public Affairs staged a six-hour sit-in on Wednesday inside of the International Affairs Building as part of the United Nations’ International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

Columbia Postdoctoral Workers-United Auto Workers voted on Tuesday to ratify a tentative agreement with the University, with 88.4 percent of the 891 total votes in favor of the new contract and 84 percent membership participation in the voting process.

Nearly 170 faculty at Columbia and Barnard have signed an open letter released on Monday condemning the backlash students received after they signed an Oct. 9 student-written statement that called for advocacy for Palestinian students and engagement with on-campus activism efforts in the wake of the escalating violence in Israel and Gaza.

While most students spend their Tuesday nights tucked away in their dorms or at the library, some, like Kozi Jones, CC ’24, the president of Proud Colors, spend them in the Stephen Donaldson Lounge inside of Schapiro Hall—one of the only spaces at Columbia allocated specifically for LGBTQ students—leading Proud Colors’ weekly meetings.

After its initial agreement with the University expired in June, Columbia Postdoctoral Workers-United Auto Workers voted in favor of a strike authorization with a 98 percent approval out of a total of 962 ballots cast, the union announced on Aug. 28.

A dozen student organizations hosted a teach-in on South Lawn on Friday during the New Student Orientation Program, reflecting on the political history of student activism at Columbia and sharing testimony from members on their current initiatives.

Incoming first-years were the last class admitted under affirmative action following the Supreme Court’s decision to effectively end race-conscious admissions in June.

There are five words that Grace Fox, CC ’23, would use to describe herself: student, organizer, friend, advocate, and badass. During her time at Columbia, Fox has devoted herself to working alongside community-based nonprofit organizations and looking for ways to best represent her identity.

The Columbia Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race Student Advisory Board hosted its first rally of the semester at the Sundial on Thursday.