Columbia University senior Mariam Alwan was visiting Jordanian families during the winter break. Her supposed top attack: Write missions to student newspapers and seeks a sale from Israel.
The investigation is part of a gust of recent incidents brought by the new University Disciplinary Committee on Colombian Students (the agency’s Office of Fairness), which has voiced criticism of Israel, according to records shared with the Associated Press.
In recent weeks, dozens of students have been notified, ranging from sharing social media posts supporting Palestinians to participating in “fraud” protests.
One student activist is currently investigating because he posted stickers from a campus that had similarities to university trustees and mimicked “hopeful” posters. The other is the president of the Campus Literature Club, facing sanctions to co-host an off-campus art exhibition focused on the occupation of campus buildings last spring.
In the case of Alwan, investigators said unsigned operations by Colombian audiences urged the school to reduce academic ties with Israel, and could have exposed other students to “unwelcome behavior” based on their religion, national origin or military service.
Alwan, a Palestinian American comparative research major, said: “It didn’t want me to write anything on the subject anymore.”
The committee informed her that the possibility of sanctions for violating school policies ranged from simple warnings to expulsion.
The new disciplinary office has sparked vigilance among students, faculty and free speech advocates, who have denounced the university’s threat of Donald Trump, cutting funds to the university and sending campus “asgitators.”
“Based on how these cases progress, the university appears to be currently responding to government pressures to curb and cool protected speeches,” said Amy Greer, an attorney who advises students accused of discrimination. “It operates as a business by protecting assets before students, faculty and staff.”
The federal agency announced Monday that it would consider cutting billions of dollars in additional grants due to “continuous inaction in the face of merciless harassment of Jewish students.”
“We are determined that seeking, promoting or glorifying violence and fear is a place in our university,” Columbia said in a statement after the release.
House Republicans have also launched their own review of Columbia’s disciplinary process. Their latest letter had administrators take over student disciplinary records for almost 12 campus incidents, including protests that claimed to have “promoted terrorism and slandered the US military” and off-campus art exhibitions.
A Columbia spokesman refused to specify if records were handed over to Congress and whether they included the student’s names, adding that he could not comment on the pending investigation.
A new disciplinary committee was created last summer. According to the university’s updated harassment policy, criticism of policies in another country could be considered harassment if “instructed or injected discriminatory comments about people from or related to those from that country.” The policy points out that “the use of codewords may be involved.”
Columbia’s Jewish students are among those who received notifications to participate in the pro-Palestinian protest. Other Jewish students say rhetoric of protest has invaded anti-Semitism and that the regime is too tolerant of demonstrators who have created a hostile environment for those who support Israel.
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Office policy requires students to sign private agreements before accessing case materials or talking to investigators, and ensure that the process remains in secret since it began late last year. The committee’s work aspects were first reported this week by online publication Drop Site News.
Those who met with investigators say they were asked to name pro-Palestinian groups on campus and other people involved in the protest. They said investigators did not provide clear guidance on whether certain terms such as “Zionist” or “genocide” are considered harassment.
Several students and faculty members who spoke with the Associated Press said the committee accused them of not attending or taking part in a demonstration that helped distribute social media messages they did not post.
Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student who negotiated Palestinian protesters at the previous spring camp, said he was charged with a misconduct office just weeks before his graduation this December. “I have about 13 allegations against me, most of them are social media posts that I have nothing to do with,” he said.
After refusing to sign a private agreement, Halil said the university had grabbed his transcript and threatened to block his graduation. However, when he appealed the decision through his lawyers, they ultimately retreated, Halil said.
“They just want to show Congress and right-wing politicians that they’re doing something regardless of the student’s interest,” Halil said. “It’s an office that cools speeches primarily from pro-Palestinians.”
According to some students, the disciplinary action could be governing the Palestinian pro-protest movement that rocked campus last year.
Recently, students occupied several buildings at Bernard University, an affiliate of Columbia University, and protested the expulsion of two students accused of disrupting Israel’s history class. Several students were arrested after hours of buying up the building on Wednesday night.
