Columbia president condemns campus race-related incidents

By Virginia Zignego

College Writer

Columbia University is examining race relations on its campus due to a series of incidents since December 2003 some believe have contributed to a climate unfavorable to minorities.

Over 100 protesters gathered at the university?s Law Library throughout last week to object to several race-related incidents. Student leaders met Friday with Columbia University President Bollinger to discuss various ways in which Columbia University could change the role race plays in the campus environment.

Among other things, the students discussed the creation of a Dean of Multicultural Affairs, the establishment of permanent on-campus cultural housing and increased funding for the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race, an article in ?The Spectator? said.

The groups also discussed the various racist incidents, which Bollinger condemned in a statement released Feb. 24.

?I want to address a series of statements and events in recent days that denigrate African Americans and other people of color and have proved unusually offensive to members of the Columbia University community,? Bollinger said in the statement.

A member of the Columbia University Marching Band, for example, read a script in December at the school?s Butler Library that protesters deemed to be racist and sexist.

According to Columbia University?s student newspaper ?The Spectator,? fliers promoting the reading of the script featured a picture of Michael Jackson with the words, ?Who needs ethnic studies?? written underneath.

A cartoon published Feb. 20 in honor of Black History month in the university?s other student newspaper, ?The Fed,? entitled ?Blacky Fun Whitey,? also proved controversial. Two of the panels on the cartoon said, ?Black people were invented in the 1700s as a form of cheap labor…A little while later, it was found that these noble brothers were super athletes! They were soon set free to follow their hoop dreams!?

The newspaper did include an editorial disclaimer.

Another incident involved an affirmative action bake sale held by the Columbia College Conservative Club. At the bake sale, bakery items were sold at a higher price to those who were white or Jewish and at a lower price to those who were African American, Hispanic or female.

The Columbia University Marching Band student has since issued a public apology for its actions, as have the editors at the ?The Fed? and members of the Columbia College Conservative Club.

Regarding the cartoon, University of Wisconsin African American Studies professor Timothy Tyson, said the newspaper has certain rights to free speech even though the content may be objectionable.

?Clearly they have the right to publish cruel, offensive, stupid material, even though the material remains cruel, offensive and stupid,? he said. ?[The bake sale] is a strange way of making a point, but they have a right to make their point. But it?s possibly illegal under the 1964 Civil Rights Act ? if McDonald?s was doing this, we would be looking at a lawsuit.?

Bollinger has been president of Columbia University since June 2002 and was previously president of the University of Michigan. Bollinger has received several awards for his defense of affirmative action in higher education, according to his biography on Columbia University?s website.