İKİ DÖNEM, TEK KAMPÜS: COLUMBIA ÜNİVERSİTESİ’NİN 1968 VE 2024 PROTESTOLARINA YAKLAŞIMLARI

Abstract

Bu çalışma, Columbia Üniversitesi yönetiminin 1968 ve 2024 yıllarında kampüste yaşanan protestolara verdiği idari tepkileri yeni-kurumsalcı bir çerçevede karşılaştırmalı olarak ele almaktadır. 1968’deki protestolar, Vietnam Savaşı’na muhalefet ve sivil haklar hareketi bağlamında şekillenmiş; öğrenciler, üniversitenin askeri-endüstriyel kompleksle kurduğu ilişkileri hedef almıştır. 2024’teki eylemler ise, Gazze’deki insani krize dikkat çekmek ve üniversitenin İsrail bağlantılı yatırımlarını sonlandırmasını talep etmek amacıyla örgütlenmiştir. Araştırma, Columbia örneği üzerinden Amerikan yükseköğretim kurumlarının kriz dönemlerindeki yönetsel reflekslerini tarihsel süreklilik ve değişim bağlamında tartışmaktadır. Analiz, dört eksen etrafında yapılandırılmıştır: müdahale yöntemleri, meşrulaştırıcı söylemler, bağışçı etkisi ve kriz yönetim stratejileri. 1968’de protestolar, Soğuk Savaş koşullarında kamu düzenine yönelik bir tehdit olarak tanımlanmış ve sert polis müdahalesiyle bastırılmıştır. 2024’te ise disiplin süreçleri ve gözetim mekanizmaları öne çıkmış; yönetim, protestoları antisemitizm ve kampüs güvenliği söylemleri üzerinden meşrulaştırmaya çalışmıştır. Her iki dönemde de üniversite yönetimi protestoları gayrimeşru gösterecek söylemsel çerçeveler üretmiş; ancak bu çerçeveler dönemin siyasal bağlamına göre farklılaşmıştır. Bunun yanı sıra, bağışçılar ve siyasi aktörlerin üniversite üzerindeki etkisinin son elli yılda belirgin biçimde arttığı gözlemlenmektedir. 1968’de ikincil düzeyde seyreden mali baskılar, 2024’te doğrudan fon kesintisi tehditlerine ve açık siyasi müdahalelere dönüşmüştür. Kurumsal yönetişim açısından ise, 1968’in kapalı ve merkeziyetçi yapısı, 2024’te dış baskılara duyarlı, imaj odaklı fakat yine hiyerarşik işleyen bir modele evrilmiştir.

Keywords

• Yükseköğretim
• Öğrenci protestoları
• Kurumsal yönetişim
• Columbia üniversitesi

TWO ERAS, ONE CAMPUS: COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY’S APPROACHES TO THE 1968 AND 2024 PROTESTS

Abstract

This study examines the administrative responses of Columbia University’s leadership to the campus protests of 1968 and 2024 within a neoinstitutionalist framework. The 1968 protests emerged in the context of opposition to the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement, with students targeting the university’s ties to the military-industrial complex. In contrast, the 2024 protests were organized to draw attention to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and to demand that the university divest from its investments linked to Israel. Through the case of Columbia, the study analyzes how American higher education institutions respond to crises by assessing both historical continuity and change. The analysis is structured around four dimensions: methods of intervention, legitimizing discourses, donor influence, and crisis management strategies. In 1968, protests were framed as a threat to public order amid the Cold War, prompting a forceful police crackdown. By 2024, disciplinary measures and surveillance mechanisms became prominent, while the administration sought to legitimize its response through narratives centered on antisemitism and campus security. In both periods, the university employed discursive frameworks aimed at delegitimizing the protests, but the content of these frameworks shifted according to the prevailing political context. Moreover, the influence of donors and political actors on the university has grown significantly over the past fifty years. While financial pressures remained secondary in 1968, they evolved into explicit threats of funding cuts and direct political interventions by 2024. In terms of institutional governance, the closed and centralized structure of 1968 has transformed into a model that is image-conscious, and highly sensitive to external pressures, yet still operates through top-down decision-making.

Keywords

• Higher education
• Student protests
• Institutional governance
• Columbia university

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