Everyone is invited to this silent demonstration and vigil in the tradition of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo and other Mothers’/People’s movements to recognize students and academic colleagues detained by or forced to flee from ICE for constitutionally protected free speech, including from Columbia: Mahmoud Khalil, Yunseo Chung, and Ranjani Srinivasan, and others. This Friday vigil is in addition to our ongoing Monday vigils.

Please wear black for this one-hour silent vigil if you intend to stand with us.

ABOUT OUR WEEKLY VIGILS:

Columbia faculty and staff are gathering every week across campuses for silent vigils to call for an end to the persecution of our students and scholars.

Concurrent vigils held on campuses across the country will all continue weekly — Mondays, 12pm ET. Join us.

HANDS OFF TOOLKIT!

Hold a silent vigil on your campus: Link to Toolkit

Everyone is invited to come and meet and greet with scientists and health researchers who have had their funding cut at the Defunded Science Fair. 

We aim to help build support and awareness for all the important research being cut by the federal government.

If you are a researcher, please sign up to either present a poster of your defunded research or carry a sign saying "Ask me about my Defunded Research" so that we can showcase for alumni the diversity of important research and training being cut (climate, child psychiatry, global health, social determinants of health, women’s and LGBTQ+ health, cancer, Alzheimer’s and much much more).

The US Government’s CUTS to Science and Medical Research at Universities:

CUT: Anything on Climate

CUT: Anything on Global Health

CUT: Anything on Social Determinants of Health

CUT: Anything on Women’s Health

CUT: Anything on LGBTQ+ Health

AND

At Columbia the CUTS have gone even further including research for Alzheimer’s, Cancer, Pediatric health, and EVERY young medical and public health investigator training program!

Faculty and staff at Columbia, Tufts and Georgetown Universities launch Campus Vigils for Abducted Students

Professors and staff members at three universities whose students have been abducted by the Trump administration held simultaneous vigils to call for their release, and say they will do so weekly until every abductee comes home.

New York City, Washington, DC, and Somerville, MA – Students may be taking final exams and heading home for the summer, but today more than sixty professors and staff members at Columbia University assembled silently for an hour in the rain, holding photographs of Palestinian Columbia graduate Mahmoud Khalil, Indian Georgetown postdoc Badar Khan Suri, and Turkish Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk, who have spent two months in DHS custody as the Trump administration seeks to deport them for their political beliefs and speech. Faculty at Tufts and Georgetown held simultaneous vigils on their campuses.

“We will not allow our communities to forget that members of our communities have been made into political prisoners by the Trump regime for speaking about the plight of Palestinians,” said Columbia University Associate Professor of Classics Joseph Howley. Tufts Faculty gathered in front of Tisch Library, while Georgetown Faculty assembled in Georgetown’s Red Square. At Columbia, black-clad professors and staff stood silently in the center of Columbia’s campus. Faculty at each school displayed photographs of all three detained students.

HANDS OFF TOOLKIT!

Hold a silent vigil on your campus: Link to Toolkit

Please join us for our ICE Watch Training for CUIMC affiliates (students, faculty, and staff)

Wednesday, April 30th, 7:00pm – 9:00pm (Virtual)

Register here: https://bit.ly/CUIMC-ICE-watch

If you are dismayed at what's been happening to our students, this is a great opportunity to gain concrete skills and plug into the vital work of protecting one another!

CUIMC Stands Up is a new coalition of medical campus faculty, staff, and students fighting back against the Trump administration’s assault on our university.

Join us on zoom on Monday, April 21st from 8-9:30 PM to learn about our strategy to fight back against the federal attacks on our teaching, our research, our patients, and our students. Bring your stories, ideas, and questions. Help us stand up to the Trump Administration’s attacks and protect our university as a critical institution for sustaining democracy and advancing knowledge.

Registration link: bit.ly/CUIMCtownhall

Note: All are welcome, though this is a space specifically geared towards CUIMC students

Watch recordings of the event here!

In a moment that speaks volumes, university staff from across departments came together to visibly and vocally defend the values that define higher education: democracy, research, and our community.

The photo beside this post captures more than just people—it captures purpose. Each person standing there brings their own story, their own discipline, and their own dedication to the table. Together, they form a collective voice grounded in truth, inquiry, and the belief that knowledge should serve the public good.

At a time when academic freedom and democratic principles are increasingly challenged, this gathering was a reminder that universities are not just institutions of learning—they are pillars of civic engagement and social progress. Our research drives innovation. Our teaching shapes critical thinkers. And our communities, both inside and outside the university, are strongest when we act in solidarity.

This moment is not about any one individual. It is about all of us. It’s about showing up—for our students, for our work, and for the world we hope to shape. When we stand together like this, we send a clear message: the values we hold are not up for compromise.

Watch recordings of the event here!

Over 200 members of CUIMC united in powerful solidarity—rising together to resist the assault on Columbia, higher education, and our right to assemble. Now, we’re channeling this collective energy into strategic action. Drop your ideas, uplift each other’s voices, and let’s build our next steps—together.