Columbia University, Ambedkar’s Alma Mater, Declares Caste as Protected Category

The move comes almost 100 years after Baba Saheb Ambedkar presented his thesis, "Caste in India," at the university.

Columbia University passed a resolution on Friday, 28 April to include caste discrimination as a protected category in its non-discrimination statement, joining an increasing number of universities in the United States, who've adopted similar frameworks.

Moreover, it comes close to a 100 years after Baba Saheb Ambedkar presented his thesis, titled "Caste in India," at the university

The University Senate passed the resolution unanimously among the 71 present senators and culminated a months-long effort by student at the Columbia School of Journalism and the School of International and Public Affairs.

The resolution, which had race an ethnicity as part of its nondiscrimination statement, further added caste as a criteria, making it a protected category against all forms of discrimination.

Spearheaded by Columbia Journalism School student Shone Satheesh, students lobbied by speaking to faculty members and student councils. Satheesh called the moment "surreal" and "historic," further mentioning a "long line of people who were instrumental in making this happen."

In a previous plenary session, the university's senators were predominantly supportive of the resolution but raised questions to the possible impact on university policies, and also whether the resolution did enough to encourage oppressed-caste students to report incidents of discrimination.

University Senator for the Journalism School, presented the resolution at the University Senate’s previous meeting and said, “Every vote counts and your vote will make a difference in helping South Asian students to make Columbia University more inclusive for them."

Meanwhile, Senator Sophia Adeghe, from the university's Columbia College expressed strong support and said:

“I think it’s really important that we acknowledge that if we’re a global community, that issues that are global in nature and maybe not specific or inherent to America will come here, and that we address them."

Vikas Tatad, Senator and Chair of the University Policy and Rules Committee, initiated the process after he proposed the addition of caste as a protected category within the Discrimination and Harassment Policy at Columbia's Teachers College.

Tatad first raised the issue at general session meetings, which are held at the beginning of every semester and subsequently approached his college's Diversity and Inclusion Head, along with other counsellors.

After the university's Teacher College added caste as a protected category, similar conversations began taking place in different departments and school within the university and led to a unified resolution against caste discrimination.

A growing number of institutions in the United States are acknowledging caste-based discrimination as a significant concern. In December 2019, Brandeis University, a private research university in Massachusetts, became the first American university to prohibit caste discrimination.

The University of California, Davis followed suit in November 2021 by including the social system of caste as a protected category under its anti-discrimination policy.

In a significant development in December 2021, Harvard became the first Ivy League university to recognize caste-based discrimination as a protected category for all graduate and undergraduate students.

The list of schools and universities that recognize caste-based discrimination as a pressing issue now totals 26, and with Columbia University joining the ranks, the movement against caste-based discrimination in the US is expected to gain further momentum.