Time to Merge Columbia College and Barnard College at Columbia University
It’s no secret that Columbia now has a difficult operating environment. The Manhattanville expansion has stalled. We went from being the number 2 university in the country to number 18, due to falsified data previously submitted to the US News and World report and correct data not submitted in time. Arts and sciences perennially complains about not enough space. But there is an obvious solution that will cut administrative costs, leave more money available to students, and open up more classroom and academic space. Columbia must finally merge with Barnard the way Harvard merged with Radcliffe.
Nemat Shafik is Columbia University’s first woman President and will assume office in July. This is not the 1950s, where women could not attend men’s colleges, much less work as a professor or university president. Most of the Ivy League has or will soon have women Presidents. There is no reason to maintain single sex education. Actually equality means opportunities for all. All of the other colleges at Columbia, most of whom were men only, opened up to women or coed. It is unjust for Barnard to only accept women and men who “live as women”. Genuine equality and respect for the law means Barnard must go coed. Indeed, as mandated by Title IX most programs at Barnard such as the post baccalaureate program, the research programs at the Athena Center, have opened to men because of Title IX required.
In 20-5 under then Debra Spar, Barnard decided to admit male to female transgenders while continuing to discriminate against men who wish to remain men. Such as issue should be discussed and debated throughout the entire Columbia community as Barnard issues Columbia’s degrees and if not for that fact no one goes to Barnard. But Columbia Spectator and Beog would never publish anything to criticise a policy that promotes transgenders while continuing to discriminate against normal men. In fact they essentially silenced men to wish to remain men on the issue, as I saw no opinions from straight men or even gay men on the matter. It is therefore time for me to come out with my feelings on the matter, and encourage other men through the Columbia community to do the same. Genuine equality men true equality for all. It does not mean having certain programs for women and transgenders while denying men. All students in the Columbia community should be able to access facilities and programs regardless of sex or sexual orientation. Imagine the outcry if there programs that only admitted straight people or men. There would immediately be lawsuits. Similarly, we cannot allow the double standard of discrimination against straight and gay men.
Since many programs at Barnard are already going coed, there’s no reason to maintain dex segregation any longer. Plus sex discrimination is illegal anyway. Plus by merging with Columbia College it would save tremendously on administrative costs, as offices and departments could be merged or closed. Merging offices like financial aid, healthcare, admissions would be among the biggest savers. So would the merging of academic departments, as it would cut down on duplication. This is empty office space could be repurposed for classroom space.
And there’s no reason to use the excuse we must continue reverse discrimination and administrative waste simply because the Ivy League was all male 100 years ago. Social justice warriors often seek to punish people for things that happened long before anyone alive was born. Here’s a newsflash. We can make true equality work today and build a better tomorrow. We cannot change the past and no one should accept being held hostage to the past. End sex discrimination in the Columbia community and merge Barnard with Columbia.