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Issue 17.3: living
Posted: October 13, 2001

JJ's Place: A New Home for Campus Discrimination

Ben Falik

It seemed like the perfect way to reunite the Class of ‘04 in their first year without mandatory meal plans. The "Take Back JJ's Place" event, held on Sept. 26th and sponsored by CCSC, was an invitation for sophomores to gather in their old hangout spot for eating, dancing and socializing. What students realized as the date neared, however, was that the Columbia College Student Council had something completely different up its sleeves.

"I love JJ's," said Brad Weinstein, CC ‘04/SEAS '05, "and it seemed like a great way to bring everyone back together. But when the time came to choose between God and Julio, well, I chose God."

Yom Kippur is the day of atonement that follows the Jewish New Year. As a way of asking God for forgiveness, observant Jews fast from sundown to sundown once annually. Unfortunately, the JJ's activity fell a few hours after the first sundown. It began just in time for students returning home from synagogue to be tempted by the greasy, grimy, delicious smells wafting out of the after-hours grill.

Once everyone figured out that something smelled funny other than the chicken parm, Sophomore Class President Khalid Ali sent out an e-mail explaining the mistake as a mix-up between the school calendar and "that crazy one the Jews use that is always moving Hanukkah around." However, in the weeks since the event, class officers have made quite a turnaround in their sentiments.

"People are tired of political correctness," said Rohit Dixit, sophomore class Vice President. "What this school needs is a group of leaders who will morph the open arms of tolerance and understanding into an open hand that herds in some and a closed fist that bats away the rest." Michael "Everybody Call Me By My Nickname" Novielli, President of the CCSC Executive Board, echoed Dixit's sentiment and shared plans to build off of the success of "JJ's minus Jews."

"Anyone who attended the Activities Fair at Columbia knows the direction the school is going in," said Novi, CC ‘03. "We've gone beyond celebrating diversity to a point where you have to be a Black Eskimo Engineer who knows sign language to join a club. It has been the unanimous feeling of the CCSC that the old system-when specific groups were excluded from the whole rather than when the whole was excluded by specific groups-was far superior. The end result is more or less the same.

A number of invitation-only board meetings have been devoted to the CCSC Exclusivity Initiative. No dates have been set, but members of the board have a pretty good idea what kinds of activities are going to fall when. Among them are noontime "Booze ‘n' BBQs" during Ramadan; a Furnald Lawn presentation of "Birth of A Nation" in February (weather pending) "Transgression Wednesdays" all throughout Lent, when students will be encouraged to interrupt the work week with a "wicked" break of their choosing; and the highly anticipated "Don't Ya Hate The Irish?" parade on St. Patrick's Day.

Leaders from Columbia's minority groups have responded in a surprising fashion to entering an era of intolerance. "We derive so much of our identity from adversity," said Jain leader Lesha Shaw, BC ‘04. "This is going to be a big opportunity for all parties involved. I would expect enrollment to be up on both sides of the fence, throughout the university. Discrimination has always been at the heart of diversity. Now that it's out in the open, the sky's the limit."

A sequel to "Take Back JJ's Place" that falls clear of the High Holy Days has been scheduled. Though flyers for the event make no indication of it, students shouldn't be shocked to find Buddha-shaped Jello molds or burning crosses upon their arrival.