Petition for the Immediate Removal of Columbia General Studies Student Body President
The Issue
For Columbia affiliates, please also fill out this Google Form started by concerned students to help circulate a petition for Maya’s removal: https://forms.gle/XohwHbkxMC3dDYZ39
Columbia Student Body President of the School of General Studies Maya Platek has weaponized her position in order to push racist policies, discriminate against Arab and Muslim students, and abandon her duties as a student leader. She has been a major contributor to the chaos and rise of fascism on Columbia’s campus, while refusing to be held accountable for her actions.
Last year, Maya fashioned herself through right-wing media as a spokesperson against Arab and Palestinian students, faculty, and staff, being one of the numerous fascist voices at Columbia that have contributed to a period of unending suffering for Palestinian students and their supporters.
After being elected Student Body President for the School of General Studies, Maya began heavily promoting herself through Israeli and American publications, an early indication that she had no interest in speaking up for all of the students at Columbia and in the School of General Studies, but only for herself.
This year, Maya has repeatedly been called out for making her student council the least diverse and misrepresentative body that has repeatedly ignored the needs and troubles of students of color at Columbia during the most difficult year in Columbia’s history. Rather than stand up for her students, Maya has contributed to the harassment and discriminatory policies on Columbia’s campus.
In February, it was leaked that Maya was one of a handful of students picked for a secret committee put together by the Columbia Trustees, the Campus Access Advisory Committee. On this committee, Maya, against the will of her student body and without any knowledge, repeatedly pushed for police or other security on campus, higher surveillance, and racist profiling policies. Despite Maya being only one of four undergraduate student body presidents at Columbia, the other three (all students of color) were not allowed on this group nor had any decision-making policies. Only Maya, who has pushed for a police campus in the name of Israel, was allowed to serve as one of a handful of students speaking on behalf of over 30,000 students at Columbia University.
The majority of students at Columbia did not vote for her nor even know of her, yet she has been a major contributor to the permanent policed campus that Columbia has recently announced. Maya’s actions in pushing for a policed campus that is permanently locked down were leaked immediately before the illegal detention of Mahmoud Khalil by DHS that Columbia Trustees administration, faculty, and staff were complicit in carrying out.
Maya also was one of the first students to target academic freedom, specifically through her racist and discriminatory targeting of the MESAAS department in Fall 2023, which the University has now put under permanent and unprecedented receivership due to Zionist pressure.
Maya is currently chairing the election commission that oversees elections for next year, as her brother and fellow IDF soldier runs for Student Body President. This is a disturbing conflict-of-interest to continue enabling suppression of student voices by Israelis.
As these issues have come to light, Maya has been asked about her involvement and responsibility. She is now refusing to answer any questions about her involvement in the Campus Access Advisory Committee, how she was selected for secret committees pushing racist policies, and her contribution to ICE and police on campus. Now refusing to speak to the student body, she claims that her lawyers have instructed her she cannot answer. Despite the School of General Studies having the largest population of international students among the undergraduate colleges at Columbia, its Student Body President has turned her back on them.
No student who is responsible for destroying academic freedom should be allowed to serve as student body president. No student who is responsible for bringing ICE and DHS onto campus should be allowed to serve as student body president. No student who has abandoned serving her own school and refusing to answer questions should be allowed to serve as student body president. Help us demand her resignation immediately to protect all students, staff, and faculty at Columbia University.
To tell the General Studies Student Council (GSSC) to remove Maya, please also email gssc@columbia.edu and it’s Executive Board Members at mp4021@columbia.edu, ow2200@columbia.edu, ey2353@columbia.edu, it2335@columbia.edu, cba2132@columbia.edu.
7
The Issue
For Columbia affiliates, please also fill out this Google Form started by concerned students to help circulate a petition for Maya’s removal: https://forms.gle/XohwHbkxMC3dDYZ39
Columbia Student Body President of the School of General Studies Maya Platek has weaponized her position in order to push racist policies, discriminate against Arab and Muslim students, and abandon her duties as a student leader. She has been a major contributor to the chaos and rise of fascism on Columbia’s campus, while refusing to be held accountable for her actions.
Last year, Maya fashioned herself through right-wing media as a spokesperson against Arab and Palestinian students, faculty, and staff, being one of the numerous fascist voices at Columbia that have contributed to a period of unending suffering for Palestinian students and their supporters.
After being elected Student Body President for the School of General Studies, Maya began heavily promoting herself through Israeli and American publications, an early indication that she had no interest in speaking up for all of the students at Columbia and in the School of General Studies, but only for herself.
This year, Maya has repeatedly been called out for making her student council the least diverse and misrepresentative body that has repeatedly ignored the needs and troubles of students of color at Columbia during the most difficult year in Columbia’s history. Rather than stand up for her students, Maya has contributed to the harassment and discriminatory policies on Columbia’s campus.
In February, it was leaked that Maya was one of a handful of students picked for a secret committee put together by the Columbia Trustees, the Campus Access Advisory Committee. On this committee, Maya, against the will of her student body and without any knowledge, repeatedly pushed for police or other security on campus, higher surveillance, and racist profiling policies. Despite Maya being only one of four undergraduate student body presidents at Columbia, the other three (all students of color) were not allowed on this group nor had any decision-making policies. Only Maya, who has pushed for a police campus in the name of Israel, was allowed to serve as one of a handful of students speaking on behalf of over 30,000 students at Columbia University.
The majority of students at Columbia did not vote for her nor even know of her, yet she has been a major contributor to the permanent policed campus that Columbia has recently announced. Maya’s actions in pushing for a policed campus that is permanently locked down were leaked immediately before the illegal detention of Mahmoud Khalil by DHS that Columbia Trustees administration, faculty, and staff were complicit in carrying out.
Maya also was one of the first students to target academic freedom, specifically through her racist and discriminatory targeting of the MESAAS department in Fall 2023, which the University has now put under permanent and unprecedented receivership due to Zionist pressure.
Maya is currently chairing the election commission that oversees elections for next year, as her brother and fellow IDF soldier runs for Student Body President. This is a disturbing conflict-of-interest to continue enabling suppression of student voices by Israelis.
As these issues have come to light, Maya has been asked about her involvement and responsibility. She is now refusing to answer any questions about her involvement in the Campus Access Advisory Committee, how she was selected for secret committees pushing racist policies, and her contribution to ICE and police on campus. Now refusing to speak to the student body, she claims that her lawyers have instructed her she cannot answer. Despite the School of General Studies having the largest population of international students among the undergraduate colleges at Columbia, its Student Body President has turned her back on them.
No student who is responsible for destroying academic freedom should be allowed to serve as student body president. No student who is responsible for bringing ICE and DHS onto campus should be allowed to serve as student body president. No student who has abandoned serving her own school and refusing to answer questions should be allowed to serve as student body president. Help us demand her resignation immediately to protect all students, staff, and faculty at Columbia University.
To tell the General Studies Student Council (GSSC) to remove Maya, please also email gssc@columbia.edu and it’s Executive Board Members at mp4021@columbia.edu, ow2200@columbia.edu, ey2353@columbia.edu, it2335@columbia.edu, cba2132@columbia.edu.
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Petition created on March 31, 2025