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Columbia Tuition Strike Solidarity Fund

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If you are a Columbia tuition striker and need funds from this strike fund owing to Columbia's BS regarding late fees, you can request them through this form: http://bit.ly/strike-fund-request 

Over 4,000 Columbia students have joined the tuition strike for next semester unless the university meets a number of demands relating to the cost of attendance, labor unions, divestment, policing, and the surrounding community. 

We need financial support to help offset potential late fees and other forms of retaliation by the administration. If you are able to donate or share to our solidarity fund, it will be a huge help to our efforts to bring more students on board. We hope we will end up not having to use these funds since one of our demands is forgiveness of late fees, and in that scenario, we will donate to a mutual aid fund for academic workers at Columbia through the Graduate Workers of Columbia. 

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, students at Columbia immediately began demonstrating against the injustice of exorbitant tuition rates, which constitute a significant source of financial hardship during this economic depression. As national protests of an unprecedented scale expressed outrage over structural racism, Mobilized African Diaspora and the nearly 1500 supporters  of its demands called for Columbia to address its own role in upholding racist policing practices, damaging local communities, and inadequately supporting Black students. Last semester, almost a thousand students, faculty, and alumni signed on in support of full divestment from fossil fuels , along with referendums at Barnard  and Columbia College  in which students voted overwhelmingly to divest from companies involved in human rights violations. Finally, the Columbia administration continues to refuse to meet the demands of thousands of academic student-workers when it comes to fair wages, healthcare, international student protections, robust grievance procedures, closed shop, and union recognition for MA and undergrad student-workers.

These issues are united by a shared root cause: a flagrant disregard for initiatives democratically supported within the Columbia community. The administration's unilateral decision-making process has perpetuated the existence of these injustices despite possessing ample resources to confront them with structural solutions​. 

​Should the administration continue to remain silent in the face of the pressing demands detailed below, over a thousand of Columbia students are prepared to withhold tuition payments for the Spring semester and not to donate to the University at any point in the future.​

Our demands are as follows:

1) Columbia must alleviate the economic burden on students by reducing the cost of attendance and increasing financial aid.
    - Reduce the cost of attendance (including tuition, fees, and room & board) by at least 10%.
    - Increase financial aid by at least 10%.
    - Replace the “student responsibility” with grants. 
    - We also demand that this reduction and increased aid should not come at the expense of instructor or worker pay, but rather at the expense of bloated administrative salaries, expansion projects, and other expenses that don’t benefit students and workers. 

2) Columbia must fulfill its responsibilities to the people of West Harlem by committing to provide employment, education & affordable housing, and to end expansion. 

3) Columbia must defund Public Safety and invest in community safety solutions that prioritize the safety of Black students and West Harlem residents, and repair harm caused by prior racist practices of Public Safety. 

4) Columbia must commit to complete transparency about the University’s investments and respect the democratic votes of the student body regarding investment and divestment decisions. This includes respecting the referendums at Barnard and Columbia College to divest from companies involved in human rights violations, divesting fully from fossil fuels, and respecting the results of future referendums relating to investment decisions. 

5) Columbia must bargain in good faith with unions on campus around their key demands for improved compensation, benefits, and protections. This includes guaranteeing protections to international students and granting union recognition for MA and undergrad student-workers. 

This is part of a nationwide struggle against neoliberal austerity in higher ed. In order for it to succeed, we need supporters around the country.

If you can't donate but want to show your support, sign on here: https://bit.ly/tuition-strike-solidarity


And if you're a Columbia student, join the tuition strike here: https://bit.ly/tuitionstrike
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Donations 

  • Charles Swisher
    • $5 
    • 2 yrs
  • Lan Phan
    • $20 
    • 2 yrs
  • Anonymous
    • $10 
    • 3 yrs
  • Gabriel Reichler
    • $27 
    • 3 yrs
  • Anonymous
    • $25 
    • 3 yrs
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Organizer

Columbia Strike Solidarity
Organizer
New York, NY

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