The president of Columbia University’s Barnard College was defeated in a university-wide vote of no confidence Tuesday. There has been growing criticism of the school’s response to the pro-Palestinian movement, which has sparked a national movement and garnered political attention.
About 77 percent of Barnard College’s faculty voted no confidence in President Laura Rosenberry on Tuesday. The Columbia Spectator reported.. The Spectator said this was the first vote of no confidence in a president in the university’s history.
The move comes a week after the Barnard Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) unanimously recommended a vote over the university’s decision to suspend students involved in the Gaza Solidarity encampment in Colombia. It was done later.
that’s all 50 students were suspended from schoolAmong them was the daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who complained of poor and unfair treatment by university leadership.
Ilsa Hirsi told Teen Vogue last week that she was effectively homeless, saying, “I don’t know when I’ll be able to go home, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to go home.” She said, “I haven’t been officially evicted. I haven’t been sent an ‘eviction’ email, but I’ve just been told I can’t move in in any way.”
“I have about four shirts and two pairs of pants. Only Barnard College students get evicted, which I think is pretty crazy,” she continued.
AAUP’s recommendation was based on five allegations, including a lack of care for students. Governance for teachers is inadequate. Violations of academic freedom and freedom of expression. “Operational disruption at all levels of the university.” and the neglect of Barnard culture.
The no-confidence vote will not remove Rosenberry from his role, but it will add further challenges to university officials already under political pressure amid the protests. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have called on Colombian President Minouche Shafik to resign if the protests cannot be quickly quelled.
Protesters at Columbia University attempted to take over a university building early Tuesday morning, prompting the school’s leadership to consider expulsion and legal action against the protesters.
Hundreds of students have been arrested across the United States in similar protests against the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war. Protesters also generally demand that schools divest from Israeli interests and the defense industry.
The Hill has reached out to Bernard for comment.
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