It has been over a week since our #RightToRecord rally, but Columbia’s Student Conduct and Community Standards office (SCCS) has not responded to survivors sharing recordings they made of the gender-based misconduct process in violation of Columbia’s recording ban.
While we hope SCCS’s lack of response signals the University is beginning to listen to the petition advocating for the ban’s removal, we demand Columbia formally get rid of the recording ban, not simply ignore violations of it while students fear facing disciplinary action. To not follow through on threats of Dean’s Discipline is cowardly, makes a mockery of the gender-based misconduct process, and further proves the recording ban is a scare tactic.
We call upon Jeri Henry, the Associate Vice President of SCCS, to formally respond to our demand for an end to the recording ban by next Monday (11/14). SCCS’s only response thus far was turning off the lights in their office, presumably to act like no one was there, rather than face students who walked up eight flights of stairs to hand deliver the #RightToRecord petition. Columbia administrators should not literally cower in their offices to avoid fighting the battles they created.
AVP Henry, if you are going to have a policy that disenfranchises students, particularly Black students and students of color who are less likely to be believed when they speak out about discrimination, have the courage to defend your policy publicly. Our #RightToRecord rally signals the beginning of an ongoing commitment to escalation. It is time for you to stop hiding. We eagerly await your response.
