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| Vol. 24., No. 10 | November 20, 1998 |
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| Vol. 24., No. 10 | November 20, 1998 |
By Amy Callahan
A heated protest by at least 150 Columbia and non-Columbia students last Friday night forced University officials to secure Faculty House and limit entry to a conference on conservative ideas in higher education.
Following the announcement on Saturday morning that only those with Columbia ID would be allowed into Faculty House, the leaders of Accuracy in Academia, a conservative think tank, decided to move their conference from Faculty House to Morningside Park. The group had scheduled a dinner in Faculty House on Friday night, Nov. 13, and a series of speakers on Saturday, Nov. 14. The protesters, carrying placards and shouting, objected to the conference leaders' opposition to affirmative action policies.
According to Faculty House administrators, the catering staff who booked the conference had no idea that Accuracy in Academia had planned a large public forum until a few days before the event, when a full-page advertisement appeared in the Columbia Daily Spectator, the student newspaper.
A statement released by University officials said: "Accuracy in Academia did not ask the university administration for permission to use our campus for a political forum nor was the group invited to campus by any member of the administration or any university organization.
"Instead, Accuracy in Academia booked a conference facility in Columbia's Faculty House...and no one in the University administration, including the management of Faculty House, was informed of the group's intention to hold a public conference featuring several controversial figures who had led the opposition to affirmative action programs in California and elsewhere.
"Public forums of this size and with the potential for protest and disruption are always held in a more secure facility than Faculty House, which can only accommodate 200 people in any one room. Faculty House guidelines, which have allowed a public political forum on campus under procedures intended primarily for private social events, are being reviewed."
The statement, released on Saturday, also described the scene at the Friday night protest: "There were dozens of heated exchanges and tauntings between forum attendees and demonstrators.
"Also, Columbia security personnel observed a non-Columbia student urging the demonstrators to storm the building. At one point due to the crush of angry demonstrators it was necessary to seal and secure the entrance to Faculty House, forcing those attending events inside to wait as long as an hour until the crowd dissipated before exiting.
"With hundreds of demonstrators expected Saturday, Nov. 14, 1998, Columbia security determined that there would be difficulties in controlling a crowd of that size and in exercising authority over non-Columbia students who are not subject to University rules of conduct and disciplinary procedures. Security, therefore, decided that it had to restrict access to the forum to people with valid Columbia ID cards and to limit the number of attendees to 200.
"Columbia security further decided to restrict access to the immediate vicinity of Faculty House to prevent any attempt at forced entrance."
On Saturday, while Accuracy in Academia conducted their conference in a Morningside Park overlook on Morningside Drive, approximately 60 protesters-primarily Columbia students-picketed the event with signs reading: "Racism Not Allowed on Campus" and "Defend Affirmative Action."