@New Jeruzalem Journalist here is an article that explains why he got kicked out of Columbia:
Columbia Torn by Disciplinary Hearing
Columbia Torn by Disciplinary Hearing
Tomorrow, seven students will be tried in a university disciplinary hearing on charges stemming from a protest in December over Columbia's plans to turn the Audubon Theater and Ballroom, where Malcolm X was assassinated on Feb. 21, 1965, into a biomedical-research complex.
....
The Barnard-Columbia Save the Audubon Coalition organized the demonstration on Dec. 14, a few days before the semester ended, at the center of the main campus. They hoped to persuade the university to protect the Audubon ballroom, at Broadway and 165th Street in Washington Heights, as a historical landmark. The ballroom is one of five buildings included in plans for a four-block, triangular complex to be developed jointly by Columbia, the New York City Economic Development Corporation and the New York State Urban Development Corporation.
Around noon, about 150 protesters decided to take their message to Jack Greenberg, the dean of Columbia's undergraduate college, whose office is on the first floor of Hamilton Hall.
Dean Greenberg said last week that he agreed to meet with a small number of students, but that some in the group insisted that he meet with all of them. Dean Greenberg refused, and a standoff began.
Just after 7 P.M., Dean Greenberg emerged from his office, told the protesters that he had nothing to do with the Audubon decision, and left the building, students said.
The students walked over to Broadway, the campus's western border, where they briefly blocked traffic, said a protester, Noah Potter. They then blocked traffic on Amsterdam Avenue, the campus's eastern border, for a short time, although security and police officers who followed them from Hamilton Hall did nothing stop them. After that, the group dispersed.
"There was no violence at any time," Mr. Potter said.
But the university is charging that the demonstrators kept students and faculty members from Hamilton Hall for much of the afternoon, during final exam week. Students are also being charged with violations of university rules of conduct, like refusing to identify themselves to campus security and failing to disperse.
A few days after the demonstration, several of the students were notified by mail that charges could be brought against them as a result of the demonstration. Students believe they were identified from videotapes made by security guards.
The students were told to appear before acting Provost Stephen Rittenberg to discuss possible charges, a step that could have allowed them to settle the matter. Postponement Requested
Mr. Potter and Benjamin Jealous, both among the seven who will be tried tomorrow, said that they all wrote letters to Mr. Rittenberg asking for a postponement of that meeting, because many of them were about to leave for the winter break. They also asked that they be allowed to meet with the provost together.
But instead of responding to their requests, the university notified them that a hearing had been scheduled before Judge Tyler, a step that allowed them no chance for further negotiation of the charges or their ultimate penalty if found guilty, the two students said.
Another 30 students have received notices that charges may be filed against them, but none of their cases has reached the stage of those to be tried tomorrow.
That the accused students are not being tried by a panel of their peers or faculty members, as students are at many other universities, has drawn many sympathizers.
But Dr. Tim Brooks, a former president of the Association of Student Judicial Affairs, a national group, said Columbia may be totally within its rights.
Dr. Brooks, who is now the dean of students at Delaware University, said private colleges do not have the same constitutional due-process requirements that public colleges must follow. He said they have more freedom to devise rules of discipline and penalties, including who will judge students, but they must apply the rules consistently, make them known to all students and allow for appeals. Pro Bono Lawyers
Many of those supporting the students also have complained that while the university will be represented by lawyers hired from an outside law firm, no such help was offered to the students, who attracted lawyers who would work for them pro bono.
"We have some major concerns that the process is not fair enough," said Norman Siegel, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, which has offered its support to the students.
Dr. Brooks said there was a trend among college officials across the country to toughen disciplinary measures against students, which he said was a reaction to widespread unrest at college campuses during the 1960's and 70's.
"Now what is happening," he said, "is that administrators have decided that the only way to create a better educational environment for all students is to become stricter in their sanctions."
Columbia Torn by Disciplinary Hearing
Columbia Torn by Disciplinary Hearing
Tomorrow, seven students will be tried in a university disciplinary hearing on charges stemming from a protest in December over Columbia's plans to turn the Audubon Theater and Ballroom, where Malcolm X was assassinated on Feb. 21, 1965, into a biomedical-research complex.
....
The Barnard-Columbia Save the Audubon Coalition organized the demonstration on Dec. 14, a few days before the semester ended, at the center of the main campus. They hoped to persuade the university to protect the Audubon ballroom, at Broadway and 165th Street in Washington Heights, as a historical landmark. The ballroom is one of five buildings included in plans for a four-block, triangular complex to be developed jointly by Columbia, the New York City Economic Development Corporation and the New York State Urban Development Corporation.
Around noon, about 150 protesters decided to take their message to Jack Greenberg, the dean of Columbia's undergraduate college, whose office is on the first floor of Hamilton Hall.
Dean Greenberg said last week that he agreed to meet with a small number of students, but that some in the group insisted that he meet with all of them. Dean Greenberg refused, and a standoff began.
Just after 7 P.M., Dean Greenberg emerged from his office, told the protesters that he had nothing to do with the Audubon decision, and left the building, students said.
The students walked over to Broadway, the campus's western border, where they briefly blocked traffic, said a protester, Noah Potter. They then blocked traffic on Amsterdam Avenue, the campus's eastern border, for a short time, although security and police officers who followed them from Hamilton Hall did nothing stop them. After that, the group dispersed.
"There was no violence at any time," Mr. Potter said.
But the university is charging that the demonstrators kept students and faculty members from Hamilton Hall for much of the afternoon, during final exam week. Students are also being charged with violations of university rules of conduct, like refusing to identify themselves to campus security and failing to disperse.
A few days after the demonstration, several of the students were notified by mail that charges could be brought against them as a result of the demonstration. Students believe they were identified from videotapes made by security guards.
The students were told to appear before acting Provost Stephen Rittenberg to discuss possible charges, a step that could have allowed them to settle the matter. Postponement Requested
Mr. Potter and Benjamin Jealous, both among the seven who will be tried tomorrow, said that they all wrote letters to Mr. Rittenberg asking for a postponement of that meeting, because many of them were about to leave for the winter break. They also asked that they be allowed to meet with the provost together.
But instead of responding to their requests, the university notified them that a hearing had been scheduled before Judge Tyler, a step that allowed them no chance for further negotiation of the charges or their ultimate penalty if found guilty, the two students said.
Another 30 students have received notices that charges may be filed against them, but none of their cases has reached the stage of those to be tried tomorrow.
That the accused students are not being tried by a panel of their peers or faculty members, as students are at many other universities, has drawn many sympathizers.
But Dr. Tim Brooks, a former president of the Association of Student Judicial Affairs, a national group, said Columbia may be totally within its rights.
Dr. Brooks, who is now the dean of students at Delaware University, said private colleges do not have the same constitutional due-process requirements that public colleges must follow. He said they have more freedom to devise rules of discipline and penalties, including who will judge students, but they must apply the rules consistently, make them known to all students and allow for appeals. Pro Bono Lawyers
Many of those supporting the students also have complained that while the university will be represented by lawyers hired from an outside law firm, no such help was offered to the students, who attracted lawyers who would work for them pro bono.
"We have some major concerns that the process is not fair enough," said Norman Siegel, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, which has offered its support to the students.
Dr. Brooks said there was a trend among college officials across the country to toughen disciplinary measures against students, which he said was a reaction to widespread unrest at college campuses during the 1960's and 70's.
"Now what is happening," he said, "is that administrators have decided that the only way to create a better educational environment for all students is to become stricter in their sanctions."
for the duration of it.
.
...how has this dynamic changed to the point that Jealous or any Dem for that matter is behind in the polls by 20points
