President Minouche Shafik delivered a message from Columbia’s Morningside campus to students on Friday, May 3.

“Every one of us has a role to play in bringing back the values of truth and civil discourse that polarization has severely damaged,” she said. “Here at Columbia, parallel realities and parallel conversations have walled us off from other perspectives. … Working together, I know we can break down these barriers.

The issues that are challenging us—the PalestinianIsraeli conflict, antisemitism, and antiArab and antiMuslim bias—have existed for a long time. And Columbia, despite being a remarkable institution, cannot solve them singlehandedly. What we can do is be an exemplar of a better world where people who disagree do so civilly, recognize each other’s humanity, and show empathy and compassion for one another.

We have a lot to do, but I am committed to working at it, every day and with each of you, to rebuild community on our campus.”