Submitted by Lorelei O’Hagan, Cos Cob
As a graduate of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), I returned to campus last weekend not to celebrate Alumni Day, but to protest.
Alongside fellow alumni and current students, I tore up my diploma at the campus gates in an act of resistance against the university’s complicity in genocide, its collusion with government repression of academic freedom, and in solidarity with our peer Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian scholar.
Mahmoud, a lawful permanent resident, was abducted by ICE from Columbia housing after being selected by the administration to help mediate with students protesting Israel’s genocide in Gaza and demanding university divestment. Leaked documents indicate that Columbia’s Trustees and SIPA Dean Keren Yarhi-Milo—a former Israeli military intelligence officer, collaborated in Mahmoud’s handover to immigration authorities. He had previously requested protection, fearing for his safety and that of his pregnant wife, who is due to give birth this month. He remains in custody in Louisiana.
Mahmoud’s detention is a devastating injustice and one of the most chilling assaults on First Amendment rights in recent memory. Our protest drew international attention, featured on MSNBC, NBC News, CBS, Democracy Now!, AJ+, and beyond reflecting a growing alarm over U.S. campus crackdowns for protest against genocide. This comes amid the violent detention of Tufts PhD student Rumeysa Ozturk, the forced flight of Cornell’s Momodou Taal, and Columbia Fulbright scholar Ranjani Srinivasan, among others.
Universities must be sanctuaries of free expression and inquiry not conduits for state surveillance and repression. The government’s assault on institutions of higher education and the capitulation of university leadership reflects a broader authoritarian project: one that includes the genocide of Palestinians, the erosion of civil liberties, and deepening hardship for Americans.
We must stand together to demand our freedom of speech, human rights for all, and protection from state sanctioned violence.
Columbia must be held accountable. Mahmoud Khalil must be free. The genocide must end.
Lorelei O’Hagan, Cos Cob