Daksha Pillai
University News Deputy Editor
Latest articles
Dozens demand protections for international student workers at Sundial protest amid stalled union negotiations
BY Daksha Pillai, Ashley Flores, and Colette Carbonara February 25
Updated Feb. 26 at 3:07 a.m.
Many Called Columbia’s 2025 Expulsion of Nonviolent Student Protesters Unprecedented. But, 89 Years Ago, Columbia Expelled an Anti-Nazi Peacenik.
BY Maya Henry, Yusuf Perwez, Dora Gao, Daksha Pillai, and Emily Ta February 19
Immigration judge terminates deportation proceedings against Mohsen Mahdawi, GS ’25, SIPA ’27
BY Daksha Pillai, Tulasi Cherukuri, and Dora Gao February 18
Updated Feb. 18 at 9:15 p.m.
NYPD arrests 12, including students and faculty, at anti-ICE demonstration outside campus gates
BY Daksha Pillai and Elliot Heath February 5
Updated Feb. 5 at 7:51 p.m.
‘ICE off campus’: Students, faculty, and community members protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement outside campus gates
BY Daksha Pillai, Ashley Flores, and Elliot Heath February 5
Updated Feb. 5 at 5:15 p.m.
Student groups host rally outside Columbia gates during annual Tree Lighting ceremony
BY Joseph Zuloaga, Daksha Pillai, Ayla Irshad, and Theresa Cullen December 21
Columbia’s four undergraduate student councils held the annual Tree Lighting ceremony on College Walk on Dec. 4, turning on the lights at 7:19 p.m. as hundreds of students watched and cheered. For the third consecutive year, student organizations protested the event, calling on the University to open its gates, rather than divest from Israel—a shift from the previous protests in 2023 and 2024.
Amid a crackdown on protests, students began organizing Palestinian cultural events. The University keeps canceling them.
BY Daksha Pillai December 13
Columbia sends disciplinary letters to at least 20 SWC-UAW members for October picket, union says
BY Colette Carbonara, Theresa Cullen, and Daksha Pillai November 26
After an Oct. 17 Student Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers picket on College Walk, Rules Administrator Gregory Wawro sent members disciplinary letters, warning them of their potential violation of the Rules of University Conduct.
In Focus: West Harlem voters cast ballots on election day
BY Joseph Zuloaga, Nadia Knoblauch, Theresa Cullen, Daksha Pillai, Celine Chien, Lara Harmankaya, Stella Ragas, Pedro Meerbaum, Grace Kaste, Anamika Changrani-Rastogi, Tianqi Wang, and Eliza Lamster November 11
As New York City’s contested mayoral race drew to a close Tuesday, West Harlem residents made a final trek to the polls.
3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hears Mahmoud Khalil’s appeal against deportation proceedings
BY Emily Pickering and Daksha Pillai October 23
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Tuesday for the federal government’s ongoing deportation efforts against Mahmoud Khalil, SIPA ’24, with Khalil’s attorneys filing appeals to prevent his potential detention and deportation.
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