Protesting on Columbia's campus to gain school support...

More immediately, the group continues to plan campus protests and publicize their message to the school. The greater campus awareness shall lead to broader support for their effort. CPC and the student coalition hold monthly meetings and prepare various events on Columbia’s campus. In addition, the groups have started to solicit faculty support for their projects, with the help of Columbia professor Robin D.G. Kelley. CPC states that the group is not advocating to eradicate Columbia’s expansion plans, rather they want to encourage the university to be more accountable to the community. As of now, the CPC claims that Columbia is not lending its services to fighting against gentrification of the neighborhood. Moreover, the University has done little to prevent exploitation of local rent control rates. The CPC believes that with the emergence of Columbia, property values will rise, resulting in the current populations’ inability to pay for their current housing. Without university support, most Harlem residents will lose their homes and the area’s cultural heritage will wither away.

| Back |