Yesterday, Columbia students joined forces with local community groups and business owners to protest the University's planned Manhattanville expansion project. The gathering featured Columbia students unfurling a large banner that read BLIGHT and declaring the South Lawn, an area known for studying, frisbee and conversations, officially blighted. Columbia student Rowan Moore Gerety explains "The lawn over there has been seized and declared blighted. It was not being fully utilized." Columbia admins were well aware of the protest and found the comparison between a manicured campus meeting area to West Harlem mildly befuddling, with spokeswoman La-Verna Fountain saying "I don't know how you can compare that." Crusty old deans.
· Students Declare South Lawn Blighted [Columbia Spectator]
· Columbia Business School Heads North [Curbed]
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