CAIR-NY, CAIR Warn Columbia University of ‘Monumental Legal Exposure’ If It Gives Congress Student Disciplinary Records
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 9/5/24) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today warned Columbia University in a demand letter against turning over to Congress the disciplinary records of students organizing on campus. Those records are the constitutional equivalent of membership rolls that the U.S. Supreme Court has determined to be protected by the First Amendment.
SEE: CAIR's Letter to Columbia University President Katrina Armstrong
Last week, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce issued a subpoena to Columbia University, among the first ever issued to a university directing campus officials to respond by September 4th. Among other things, the subpoena seeks disciplinary records about students organizing for expressive purposes. It is unclear what, if anything, school officials have done to resist or comply with the House Committee's demand.
SEE: House Republicans subpoena Columbia University for documents
In the letter, CAIR explains Columbia University’s obligations to its students:
“As custodian of those records, it is your constitutional obligation to ensure that Columbia University not give in to the House Committee’s Mcarthy-ist efforts to target students, even if that means going to court to limit the subpoena’s scope.
“For decades now, the Supreme Court has repeatedly invoked the First Amendment as a protection against government efforts to compel the disclosure of a group’s associations. If Columbia University, however, allows itself to be enlisted by the House Committee to violate the rights of students to organize, we will hold it responsible. A decision to turn over disciplinary records exposes Columbia University to substantial legal liability.”
In iconic cases, like NAACP v. Alabama, the Supreme Court has time and again acted to protect information about people’s associations from disclosure. As the Supreme Court held in that case more than 60 years ago, “Inviolability of privacy in group association may in many circumstances be indispensable to preservation of freedom of association, particularly where a group espouses dissident beliefs.”
A coalition of students—known as CUAD, (Columbia University Apartheid Divest)—released this statement, attributable to CUAD:
“Columbia University’s decision to cooperate with a Congressional subpoena, which explicitly seeks to conflate our protests for Palestinian self-determination and the end of Israeli apartheid with antisemitic conduct, is a cowardly evasion of the standards of due process and relative safety which must be afforded to all students engaged in protest. It is our right and our duty to speak out against the genocidal campaign being conducted by Zionists in Palestine, and we condemn both the unprecedented collusion which has already occurred between our University and Congress, and Congress’ demand for further information on internal proceedings, particularly information protected by our rights under FERPA.
“This is a transparent attempt to cow students into silence, and we urge our administration not to shirk its commitments both to these students and to the principles of free and open discussion which define, and must continue to define, higher education, just as we will not shirk our commitment to organizing for a free Palestine.”
CAIR-NY Executive Director Afaf Nasher, Esq. stated:
“Columbia University’s suppression of anti-genocide student protesters is disgraceful. It has failed to protect Palestinian, Muslim, Arab, and allied students of every faith and ethnicity from discrimination. It has betrayed its academic standing with the ongoing repression of free speech. And it has perpetuated Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian racism, and endangered those standing against apartheid and genocide.
“This hostile climate, compounded by disciplinary actions and police violence, makes Columbia one of the most concerning campuses for human rights advocates. CAIR-NY continues to urge the university to honor its duty to protect all students and uphold the values of academic freedom.”
“The House Committee’s subpoena is a violation of the First Amendment, and Columbia University will become an accomplice to the violation to the extent it complies,” said CAIR Attorney Gadeir Abbas. “We will hold Columbia University accountable if it does not fulfill its duty to resist the House Committee’s transparent effort to compel the disclosure of the names of pro-Palestinian students at the school.”
CAIR has filed lawsuits in Florida and Texas, challenging extensive efforts to shut down anti-genocide protests through the country.
SEE: USF Palestinian student group sues the state over free speech violations
SEE: Students sue Texas governor, universities over executive order on campus free speech
Earlier this year, CAIR released ‘Hostile’: How Universities Target Anti-Genocide Protesters which detailed unprecedented efforts across the country to suppress students from advocated for Palestinians.
CAIR-NY's mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR-NY es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT:
Afaf Nasher, Esq., Executive Director, anasher@cair.com, 917-669-4006;
Saira Amar, MPA, CAIR-NY, Communications Coordinator, SAmar@cair.com