Administrators at Columbia University threw a bone to the four famished students on a hunger strike yesterday, giving in to some of their lofty demands.
Columbia agreed to raise $50 million to beef up ethnic studies and expand programs for multicultural students, strike organizers said, but refused to budge on the protesters’ biggest demand – killing the school’s proposed expansion into Harlem.
“We are very happy to hear that the university is willing to meet our demands,” said student organizer Jamie Chen. “We took drastic measures, and we’re glad that the university has come to a point of negotiation.”
Columbia’s concession will expand the school’s multicultural student center and expand the required freshman ethnic-studies class from a several hundred-student lecture to small seminar groups.
Administrators have also agreed to add diversity training to orientation programs for new faculty and hire five new ethnic-studies professors.
The concessions, coupled with threats from campus doctors, were enough for two of the students to pull out of the hunger strike – now in its 10th day.
Seniors Emilie Rosenblatt and Bryan Mercer left the strike late Wednesday night after doctors said they were in serious medical danger and would be put on involuntary leave if they continued.
They were replaced by two newcomers, and the four students said they would continue to strike until the Harlem expansion plan was quashed.
“It’s such an effective reality check to see that our actions have real impact,” said Richard Brown, 19, who joined the strike yesterday.
“But the administration has made no concessions to the community for the expansion. We want to ensure they do it in an ethical manner that respects my neighbors.”
Student representatives and administrators met late yesterday afternoon to address the issue.
Columbia’s proposed expansion plan would grow the campus by 17 acres.