Collections : [Columbia University Archives]

This collection contains the records generated by the Joint Committee on Disciplinary Affairs (JCDA) of Columbia University from 1967 through 1973.

Beginning in the late 1970s, Columbia students urged the university to divest from companies doing business in South Africa in protest of South Africa's system of apartheid. After a series of student protests culminating in a month long blockade of Hamilton Hall in 1985, the Trustees voted to begin full divestment. The collection contains the administrative records of this decision making process in the 1970s-1980s.

The Strickman Cigarette Filter Collection documents Columbia's brief ownership of the patent for a cigarette filter invented by chemist Robert Strickman. Soon after their announcement of the agreement, the filter was found to be not much more effective than those in use at the time and Columbia withdrew its support. These records includes Columbia's statements, correspondence, and other materials generated throughout the incident.