In Support of Our Students and Our Shared Values
Dean Daniel Abebe shares an important message with the community.
Dear members of the Columbia Law School community,
Like many of you, I awoke yesterday to learn of the detention by federal agents of a Columbia student, Ellie Aghayeva, and spent the ensuing hours monitoring developments as they unfolded in real time. While the news of her release provided a welcome moment of collective relief, the underlying circumstances—which Acting President Shipman described in detail last night—are deeply alarming, both for our community and for the foundational rule of law values that we at Columbia Law School work to advance.
The ability of our students, faculty, and staff to flourish depends, at the most fundamental level, on a safe and secure living, learning, and working environment. Those essential conditions, critical to a free and democratic society, were flagrantly violated yesterday. I share and empathize with the feelings of shock, frustration, and outrage that this incident has caused, particularly for those students who reside in University housing. It is especially difficult for our international students, whose presence and contributions have enriched the Law School for more than a century.
The duty of care that we have to our students is paramount and we will continue to provide support and assistance to those in need. To that end, Student Services will be hosting open drop-in hours for all students on Monday, March 2, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and again from 2 to 5 p.m., in the lounge on the 4th Floor of William and June Warren Hall. We will also convene a special Know Your Rights workshop with Professors Harcourt and Mukherjee on Tuesday, March 3, from 12:10 to 1:10 p.m. in Jerome L. Greene Hall, Room 106. This event will be open to all members of the Law School community. In order for interested staff to be able to attend, we will be delaying the start time of the annual Staff Luncheon. More information will follow.
In addition, the University will be hosting another Immigration Policy and Understanding your Rights Webinar at 3 p.m. today, Friday, February 27. Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the additional resources that Columbia has deployed. The Law School will continue to follow the University’s enhanced protocol for handling visits from federal immigration agents to our campus, and we have proactively engaged the dedicated front-line staff who manage our facilities and help keep us safe.
At Columbia Law School, we are united in our commitment to the rule of law, and we have a uniquely important role to play in upholding the fair and equitable administration of justice. This is not simply a notional statement; it is an ideal that we must strive to achieve by carrying out our essential work—teaching and learning, research and scholarship, service and support.
I am heartened by the strength and resilience that the Law School community has long demonstrated, and I continue to be grateful for your ongoing commitment to our shared mission and values, and to one another.
Sincerely,
Daniel Abebe
Dean and Lucy G. Moses Professor of Law