opinion: columns

In a major win for feminists everywhere, Jean Miller of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, made herstory on January 6 by becoming one of the first women ever to break into the U.S. Capitol.

Ask any New Yorker what they hate most about the city, and you will probably hear someone mention the price of rent. As of January 2020, more than 29 percent of all renters in New York City pay more than half of their income toward rent, including 78 percent of those who earn less than the “area median income” of New York City—about $96,000 for a family of three. These statistics reflect the unaffordability of New York City housing, a challenge that is felt at Columbia, where housing costs are part of the reason why the graduate student union’s strike demands include higher compensation from the University. As the union argues, the current compensation provided by Columbia does not account for the high cost of living in New York City. Most graduate students live in housing owned by the University and pay, on average, around $1,500 per month in rent. With a salary of around $30,000 per academic year and $3,884 per summer, many students pay more than half of their entire income toward rent.

Dear Barnard administration,

The work of a historian takes at least some imagination, which is why I fell in love with the subject long before I came to Columbia. You have the amazing task of piecing together the sources you find and filling in the details of what could have been. As you go back in time and have access to fewer and fewer historical records, you must adjust your interpretation of humanity to fit a world only familiar to people who are long gone.

To my beloved Barnard classmates,

It is no secret that after New York City became one of the country’s first COVID-19 epicenters, its affluent residents deserted their homes in droves. In fact, the New York Times reported that the residential populations of the Upper East Side, the West Village, SoHo, and Brooklyn Heights decreased by “40 percent or more” between March and May of last year.

It is imperative that organizations and institutions actively center the voices of people affected by the criminal legal system. Moreover, organizations should not simply ask people to share their life stories or seek to offset the organization-wide imposter syndrome, but must equally center the experiential expertise and personal knowledge of those who are called upon as sources of much needed wisdom for creating inclusive environments in policy as well as under the law for Black and Indigenous people.

“Human rights” is a term often thrown around in campus discourse. Yet for the past four years, this term was perhaps used most frequently concerning the Trump administration, as many students were dismayed at its frequent and flagrant violations of human rights. Now, following Joe Biden’s inauguration, many of us are breathing a sigh of relief.

When I am asked who my favorite historical figure is, I cannot help but say Prince Klemens von Metternich. Throughout my life, the majority of the responses I’ve gotten to this have been incredulous. Most people have no reason to know who Metternich is, and the majority of those who do scoff at the idea that an 18th-century Austrian aristocrat who is most often remembered for his repressive conservatism is a fitting exemplar, let alone one relevant in the 21st century. Well, I beg to differ.

On July 10, University President Lee Bollinger announced the opening of the Columbia Climate School. He based the decision on Columbia’s commitment to public life, writing: “We are not free to ignore the issues of our age and pursue whatever we want. We are ultimately responsible to our societies and the world. To that end, we must answer the call to serve.”