Dear fellow members of the Columbia and Barnard communities,
The deliberate harassment and targeting of members of our community by doxing, a dangerous form of intimidation, is unacceptable. Many individuals, including students across several schools, have been subject to these attacks by third parties. This includes disturbing incidents in which trucks have circled the Columbia campus displaying and publicizing the names and photos of Arab, Muslim and Palestinian students.
We are grateful for the persistence and perseverance of the students, and their families, in the face of this harassment. We are assembling available resources to support them and the staff and faculty who are by their side.
To streamline support for the members of our community who are the targets of doxing, Columbia and Barnard together are establishing a Doxing Resource Group composed of key offices across both campuses that are focused on the issue. This group will serve as a centralized point of contact for issues related to doxing, harassment, and online security.
The resource group will work in close partnership with colleagues around Columbia and Barnard, including from the offices of University Life, Barnard Campus Life and Student Experience, Columbia University and Barnard Information Technology, the Columbia Department of Public Safety, Barnard CARES Community Safety, the Offices of General Counsel, the Offices of the Provost, Barnard Office of Inclusion and Engaged Learning, and student affairs leaders from across the university. The group will also coordinate with the recently announced SIPA Task Force on Doxing and Student Safety.
These offices have already been working closely and frequently to support students these past three weeks. Now, we are establishing a single point of contact instead of navigating multiple offices.
In addition, Columbia and Barnard have retained experts in the field of digital threat investigation and privacy scrubbing to support our impacted community members.
The special resource group on doxing will:
- Serve as one point of contact for all issues related to doxing, harassment, and online security.
- Communicate proactively with students to help navigate the resources available to them.
- Make referrals where necessary and ensure coordination of services.
- Hear concerns and receive suggestions for additional support.
The special resources group will be in operation through November 30, at which point we will reassess our efforts to ensure that our work meets your needs. The staff coordinating the resource group will reach out to affected students soon. To reach out to the group leadership, please email DRG@columbia.edu.
Sincerely,
Minouche Shafik
President, Columbia University in the City of New York
Laura Ann Rosenbury
President, Barnard College