Minutemen stage-rush
The Minuteman stage-rush was an embarrassing incident that took place on October 4, 2006.
Stage-rush
Jim Gilchrist and several other Minuteman were invited to give a lecture in Lerner Hall's Roone Arledge Auditorium in October 2006. Before Gilchrist could begin dozens of students stormed the stage. During the struggle between activist and Gilchrist guards tables and podiums were knocked over and punches thrown.
Immediate aftermath
Major news! Chris Kulawik, Chief Republican went on Fox News. Then he debated Avi Zvi Zenilman on the O'Reilly Factor. Columbia was branded "University of Havana (North)", leading light of the "left-wing jihad". The whole thing made a lot of people mad, but made The Bwog famous. The story was widely covered on cable television, largely due to footage captured by CTV News. While O'Reilly's nick name was extreme, the national coverage of the story reinforced Columbia's image as a left-wing institution.
Punishments
Five months after the event, the University charged 7 students involved in the incident for simple violations of the University Code of Conduct. 3 were issued censures, while 4 received disciplinary warnings.
- Karina Garcia - chairperson of Lucha: issued censure [1]
- Martin Lopez - member of Lucha: charged with censure[1]
- Cosette Olivo - charged with censure [1]
- Monique Dols - issued disciplinary warning
- David Judd - president, International Socialist Organization: issued disciplinary warning [2]
- Andrew Tillet-Saks - issued disciplinary warning [3]
- Unknown student - issued disciplinary warning
Video
The following video was recorded by CTV and widely circulated after the incident:
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