Response to Faculty

We thank you for the message you sent us in your personal capacities. We appreciate the opening of dialogue. We take this opportunity to respond collectively, not as individuals, but as your students. We too have many points of view and our own disagreements, but we speak here of our shared expectations, rather than our differing ideas---expectations about the profession that you have taught us, and to which we aspire in our own professional lives.

We came to this school to sit with you and learn how to be part of the profession in which you are the most accomplished and influential of living masters. We see with disappointment and concern that although you express commitment to the fundamental values you have taught us lie at the center of our centuries-long pursuit of justice, you are unable to put aside your personal differences of opinion to take a collective position and to act together for the common good.

We see around us, not only in the school but elsewhere at the heights of the profession we hope one day to lead, people with both power and responsibility who are not leading. We hear the silence of those who should be our most prominent voices. We see that our gates are closed to a society to whose needs and aspirations we should be open. We see that those who have wealth and influence are using it to protect their standing, or to avoid confrontation, rather than to shield those most vulnerable to oppression and abuse. We wonder what your teachers, and those who came before us in our generations of seeking justice, would think of the message you have sent us, and all that you have refrained from saying.

We thank you for telling us what you think. We now respectfully request that you show us what you can do.

*Revised possible statement

To our professors: We thank you for the message you sent us in your personal capacities. We appreciate the opening of dialogue. We are grateful for the support many of us have received individually during this time. We take this opportunity to respond collectively, not as individuals, but as your students. We accept your invitation to strengthen our institution, but we are uncertain about how to protect the principles you affirm. We’re looking to you to show us. We came to this school to sit with you and learn how to be part of the profession in which you are the most accomplished and influential members. Given your express commitment to the fundamental values you taught us lie at the center of our centuries-long pursuit of justice, we hope you are able to put aside your personal differences of opinion to act collectively. We see around us, not only in the school but at the heights of the profession we hope one day to lead, people with both power and responsibility who are not leading. We hear the silence of those who should be our most prominent voices. Our gates are closed. Our community members are being taken for exercising freedom of expression. The principles you avow are in need of protection. We recognize faculty members are differently positioned due to factors like citizenship status and academic tenure. We call upon those of you who are able to move beyond affirmations. We thank you for telling us what you think. We now respectfully request that you show us what you can do. * This statement may not reflect the views of each organization’s board members

In solidarity, Columbia Law American Civil Liberties Union (CLS ACLU)

-- MeherGeorge - 24 Apr 2025