Just two months ago, Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Julie Cohen was invited to help choose some of the most prestigious awards in broadcast and digital journalism. She felt honored to join the selection committee of the duPont-Columbia Awards, hosted at Columbia University.
But this week, before she could take part in her first selection process, Cohen resigned from the nine-person committee in protest of Columbia’s recent concessions to President Donald Trump.
Under the threat of losing access to $400 million in federal contracts and grants, the university caved to Trump’s demands of, among other things, revamping its protest policies and overhauling its Middle Eastern studies department. It included agreeing to ban masks on campus that are often worn by pro-Palestinian protesters and hiring security guards with the authority to arrest students.
The New York Times called Columbia's acquiescence a “remarkable concession.”
It went too far for Cohen, the co-director of the film about late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg titled “RGB,” which was nominated for a Best Documentary Feature at the 2019 Academy Awards.
Cohen told me during a phone interview on Tuesday that her resignation was “just the right thing to do.”
“I kind of felt this was the right opportunity for me to stand up and say, no, this is not the normal course of business,” she said. “You read about everything that has happened so far with the Trump administration, and you keep waiting for people to stand up and say, ‘Whoa! No! This is wrong.’ Well, this was my time to do that.”
In her resignation letter, Cohen made it clear that her decision was not “personal” toward the duPont Awards or Columbia's journalism school. She said she was stepping down because “I no longer wish to be associated with Columbia” after several developments, most notably that the university “so readily caved to the Trump administration.”
She wrote in her letter that she understood Columbia was in an almost impossible position, with Trump threatening to withhold $400 million essential to the school.
But, she added, “By choosing instead to negotiate and give in, Columbia has empowered Trump to demand more from Columbia and every other university in the U.S. Any thoughtful analysis of how institutions respond to creeping authoritarianism makes it clear: capitulation is the wrong way to go.”
She would add, “There's clearly a cascading effect to people caving in to Trump. But I've observed recently that there's also a cascading effect created when people stand up against the erosion of democratic norms. That's the cascade I'd rather be part of — even if it means walking away from something that would be meaningful and enjoyable.”
Cohen, 61, acknowledged that she’s in a good position to speak out and take a stand. She’s an independent filmmaker who doesn’t rely on the university to make a living, as employees of Columbia do. She also didn’t need the small stipend she would have received for being on the duPont-Columbia selection committee.
But she also brings credibility to her public protest. She got her master's degree from Columbia in 1989. She served as an adjunct faculty member and adviser to the documentary program there. She received a J-School Alumni Award just last year.
Before becoming a documentary filmmaker with projects like “Every Body,” “Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down” and “Julia” (about Julia Child), Cohen was a producer for NBC’s “Dateline.”
And there’s this, which she wrote in her letter:
The Trump Administration, and now Columbia, says the new policies are meant to address harassment and discrimination aimed at Jews. As a Jewish alumna, I don’t take concerns about antisemitism lightly. But it creates a dangerous precedent to put the federal government in the position of striking the delicate balance between protecting free speech and preventing hate speech, harassment, and violence on a college campus. And it would be naïve not to view the Administration’s demands on Columbia in the broader context of its stated goal to dismantle and reshape American higher education. The Administration has already threatened or punished other universities over other issues: DEI and transgender athletes.
Last October, the Columbia Journalism Review published a story about Mariel Garza, the Los Angeles Times editorials editor who resigned in protest after Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong nixed the editorial board’s endorsement of Kamala Harris for president. Garza told CJR executive editor Sewell Chan, “In dangerous times, honest people need to stand up. This is how I’m standing up.”
Cohen referenced that quote in her resignation letter and told me Monday, “I know that quote so well, I don’t even have to Google it. In dangerous times, honest people need to stand up.”
Cohen then added, “Well, this is how I am standing up.”
Apparently, she is not alone. On Tuesday night, Cohen said that three other duPont jurors had resigned.
