The #24SevenColumbia campaign advocates for around-the-clock healthcare that is available to all members of the University community. In order for these services to be truly accessible, we believe they must be free from policing and threats of disciplinary retaliation.

As people who live and work on Columbia’s campuses, we are continually endangered by the poor state of mental and physical health resources at the University. Following an academic year with six undergraduate suicides at Columbia and new statistics about rampant sexual violence on campus, students are still unable to access the care they urgently need. Healthcare providers for the University community — Counseling and Psychological Services/Furman, Medical Services/Primary Care Health Service, and Sexual Violence Response — remain closed overnight and on weekends.

In addition, students continue to risk violence and punitive discipline when attempting to access health resources on campus. Administrators regularly threaten struggling students with disciplinary consequences. In order to receive crisis response or any form of after-hours healthcare, students must also face the possibility of interacting with campus security and the NYPD. This makes campus healthcare even more inaccessible for Black students and other students of color, queer and trans students, undocumented students, and others whose communities are disproportionately targeted by police and state violence.

Adequate healthcare is a necessary part of a safe and equitable learning environment. As the faculty support letter for 24/7 healthcare states, “If the University wants to fully achieve its mission of ‘advancing knowledge and learning at the highest level,’ we believe it needs to invest in 24/7 healthcare. Healthcare — including trauma support — is vital for fostering a community conducive to intellectual growth.