March 16, 2025

Dear Members of the GSAPP Community,

I am writing at a time when GSAPP is saddened by how the current climate is affecting members of our community, and the uncertainty about how we may be impacted in the future. I am moved by how our extended family, both here in New York and around the world, has been brought together by a sense of care and compassion, and I am thankful to all of you who are reaching out to express your support, ask questions, and share your concerns.

As the Dean of GSAPP, I want to remind you that the School stands by its students, faculty, and researchers in our commitment to work tirelessly every day to create an environment that embraces academic freedom and freedom of speech, where debate and difference are valued and respected. At the same time, we need to honor the privacy of all our members, and I cannot comment on individual cases. With 64 nationalities represented among our current students alone, GSAPP is proud of being the home of students, faculty, researchers, and administrators from all over the world, many on temporary visas or green cards. The relevance of our collective work, our leadership, and our authority heavily relies on our capacity to be constituted in plurality. In a world facing profound and unprecedented challenges, our practices, our research, our teaching, and our engagement are more important than ever. GSAPP’s creativity, its intellectual caliber, and its capacity to interrogate history to reimagine and deliver alternative futures through the disciplines of the built environment are profoundly needed. I am thankful for the efforts of our students, researchers, program directors, faculty, alumni, and the GSAPP administration to keep the School faithful to and focused on its mission.

As we navigate the current uncertainties, I want to make sure that the GSAPP community continues to be informed, and I remind you about the need to review the following resources.

The University has posted protocols to assist in managing interactions with ICE agents:
https://publicsafety.columbia.edu/content/protocol-potential-visits-campus-us-immigration-and-customs-enforcement-ice-agents

https://publicsafety.columbia.edu/content/frequently-asked-questions-visits-campus-us-immigration-and-customs-enforcement-ice

As many members of our community, including many on US Visas, are now traveling or will be doing so in the next days, please make sure you carefully consult the following information and travel advisory from ISSO:
https://isso.columbia.edu/news/important-travel-advisory-international-students-and-scholars

Updates on federally-funded research:
https://research.columbia.edu/federal-research-updates-2025

Anti-Doxing and Online Harassment Policy:
https://universitypolicies.columbia.edu/content/anti-doxing-and-online-harassment-policy

During the past two weeks, I have been meeting with many of you, including student representatives, students, full-time faculty, program directors, and the School’s senior administrators. I have also reached out to many of you to meet or meet again and will reach out to many more in the coming days. I encourage you to participate in these meetings.

Andrés Jaque
Dean