Political

During the infamous 1968 student protests, 1,000 protestors flooded Columbia’s campus, occupied five buildings, and were part of one of the largest mass arrests in New York City history. Over 50 years later, however, modern student activism rarely seems to rally the same momentum it drew in past generations.

As the 2020 general election approaches—in 47 days to be exact—it increasingly infiltrates conversations, turning playful banter into political discourse. It’s making everyone sit on the edge of their seats as they contemplate how the election results will impact our society. As you consider which clubs to join this semester and prepare to vote in the general election for possibly the first time, here are some on- and off-campus political organizations to keep in mind.

Destiny Stevens can’t pinpoint the exact moment she knew she was different from her radically liberal friends, but she says the signs had always been there. While her classmates began experimenting with liberal ideas like canceling student debt and eliminating private insurance, Stevens harbored scandalous thoughts about working within institutions instead of dismantling them.

Columbia and Barnard are both known for being politically active campuses. With the primaries in full swing and the presidential election right around the corner, you might be looking for how to get involved with political organizations on campus. Let Spectrum’s list guide you!

Political science is one of the most common majors at Columbia and Barnard. Encompassing a wide variety of areas that utilize skills applicable to any field, it seems like a pretty solid option.

New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined journalist and renowned writer Ta-Nehisi Coates to discuss political activism, the need for urgent advocacy, and the nature of “clapping back” at Twitter followers at an event to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. in Riverside Church on Monday afternoon.

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.

A few weeks ago, I watched Emma Gonzalez address hundreds of thousands of anti-gun protesters in Washington. I was one of millions more tuning in on television to hear her powerful six-minute, 20-second speech, most of which was delivered in silence as she stared fiercely ahead, tears trickling down her cheeks. The intensity of her rage, the righteousness of her cause, the incandescence of her youth brought back memories of a time 50 years ago when campuses across America were on fire. Like cicadas with a half-century life cycle, students were making deafening noises again.

There’s no escaping 1968—even as it turns 50.

The eyes of the nation were upon Morningside Heights 50 years ago this week. On April 23, 1968, Columbia and Barnard students gathered at the sundial to protest the suspension of students who opposed the University’s complicity with the Vietnam War effort and the plan to construct a gymnasium for the private use of the Columbia community in Morningside Park. The protest spiraled into a weeklong standoff between student protesters and the central administration. Students occupied five buildings—Hamilton, Low, Avery, Fayerweather, and Mathematics—while engaging in a protracted battle with the University administration. The campus was shut down. Violent clashes broke out between supporters and opponents of the strikers, and the threat of an impending intervention by the New York City Police Department loomed. After an exhausting week of conflict and negotiation, Columbia President Grayson Kirk made the controversial decision to call in the NYPD to end the crisis. The police forcibly—and violently—removed many students and faculty from in and around the occupied buildings. “The Bust,” as it became known, was an ignominious episode that further delegitimized the central administration.