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<p>To get back to addressing the OP</p>
<p>1) Most students are fine with it. There’s a vocal activist element at Columbia that’s not. I like to call these students “activists in search of a cause”. There’s nothing they love more than protesting, bless their hearts. They usually find something to decry on a yearly basis. </p>
<p>2) Columbia does respond to the community often. Columbia also often shoots itself in the foot in order to appease the community. Back in 2002 Columbia opened a K-8 private school as a faculty recruitment tool. They reserved half the seats for neighborhood children and offer financial aid. Now there isn’t enough room for faculty children, the original purpose of the school. As part of the Manhattanville expansion Columbia will be creating a Science Magnet high school for the NYC Public school system.</p>
<p>3) Of course the University is looking to plant its flag in new dirt. Columbia is far and away the most space starved ivy league school by a measurement of sq ft per student. Harvard, which is the second most space starved school in the ivies by that same metric, has double the sq ft per student as Columbia. Yeah, we kinda need the space. Bad.</p>
<p>You can read more about Manhattanville here: [Manhattanville</a> in West Harlem](<a href=“http://www.neighbors.columbia.edu/pages/manplanning/index.html]Manhattanville”>http://www.neighbors.columbia.edu/pages/manplanning/index.html)</p>
<p>and </p>
<p>[How</a> will the local community benefit from this expansion?](<a href=“http://neighbors.columbia.edu/pages/manplanning/faqs/index.html#N10112]How”>http://neighbors.columbia.edu/pages/manplanning/faqs/index.html#N10112)</p>