Thousands sign onto Columbia tuition strike as student organizers push for voice in university budgets Thousands sign onto Columbia tuition strike as student organizers push for voice in university budgets Elisabeth McLaughlin / Staff Photographer By Talia Abrahamson | December 19, 2020, 9:02 PM A coalition of student organizations led by Columbia-Barnard Young Democratic Socialists of America has come together to call for a tuition strike against Columbia. The strike, which has amassed 3,200 signatures over two months, aims to hold the University accountable to students, staff, and community members for how it handles its wealth. The movement follows national calls to defund police departments and redistribute funds from Public Safety arms to more community-based initiatives. Since this past summer, Mobilized African Diaspora has been organizing to implement many of these demands within the Columbia community—including through the severing of ties to the New York Police Department and defunding Public Safety. In light of these movements, as well as the economic downturn from the ongoing pandemic and rising tuition, students are now calling for participatory budgeting so they can exercise a greater voice in the allocation of University finances.