(🧵 1/9) The @AAUPCU acting president Michael Thaddeus is normally known for his meticulous documentation and attention to detail. But in a statement to @ColumbiaSpec, he is factually wrong (and, we suspect, knows it). https://www.columbiaspectator....
@AAUPCU @ColumbiaSpec (🧵 2/9) Thaddeus asserts that even during the Vietnam War, it was "unthinkable" for the federal government to "attack or defund" universities.
@AAUPCU @ColumbiaSpec (🧵 3/9) But actually, that is exactly what happened. In 1971--at the height of the Vietnam War--the federal government cut off all funding to @Columbia University, and debarred it from future funding. Details here: https://standcolumbia.org/2025...
@AAUPCU @ColumbiaSpec @Columbia (🧵 4/9) Why? Well, because @Columbia did not comply with federal affirmative action / nondiscrimination mandates. In fact, it did not even go through the legal processes (i.e. invoke Title VI) before pulling funding. It was unilateral decision by an Nixon political appointee.
@AAUPCU @ColumbiaSpec @Columbia (🧵 5/9) So how did this end? Well, the University complied with the government's requirements. President Bill McGill explained that "we are no longer in all respects an independent private university." 5 months later, the funding was restored. https://standcolumbia.org/wp-c...
@AAUPCU @ColumbiaSpec @Columbia (🧵 6/9) Three years later, in a retrospective to the University Senate, McGill talked about the risks and uncertainties of litigation. ("It is cold comfort to discover after litigation that you have gone broke in a just cause.") https://archive-publications.l...
@AAUPCU @ColumbiaSpec @Columbia (🧵 7/9) At the time, Columbia derived 27% of its general income requirement directly from public funds. 54 years later, it has only gone up. This is reality. https://standcolumbia.org/2024...
@AAUPCU @ColumbiaSpec @Columbia (🧵 8/9) So, Thaddeus simultaneously thinks: (1) The fed govt unlawfully pulling funding for violating nondiscrimination law in 1971 is OK. (2) The fed govt lawfully pulling funding for violating nondiscrimination law in 2025 is not OK. Gee, wonder what sets these two apart?
@AAUPCU @ColumbiaSpec @Columbia (🧵 9/9) Michael Thaddeus, we know you're a math professor, not a history professor. But if an English professor can moonlight as a law professor (and, confusingly, also as a theologian), you can definitely do better.