Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs has faced backlash for introducing a new seminar titled, “From Nick Cage to Kim Kardashian: Do Californians Deserve Human Rights?”
The course description described the class as “analyzing the concerning number of polarizing figures from California, including Ronald Reagan and Gracie Abrams, and their social, emotional, and political damage at the global level” to “discuss whether the UN should enforce treaties that address various harms on the human race committed specifically by Californians.”
Both Barnard and Columbia boast a significant portion of their student populations from the Golden State, and alumni and parents who hail from or reside in California expressed outrage over the seminar.
In a statement sent to The Fed, seminar instructor Jerry Jersey explained that he believes teaching the course is invaluable as “there’s a lot of things wrong with the people from that state, from Los Angeles to Bakersfield to San Francisco.”
“A lot of people move there for either two industries: Hollywood and tech startups,” Jersey wrote, “there’s so many terrible things made by Californians that are plaguing society. You don’t think there’s a reason why Disney live action remakes and OpenAI come from the same state?”
In interviews with The Fed, several students agreed with Jersey’s disdain for Californians. “Sometimes it feels like everyone on this campus is a rich kid from Beverly Hills or Cupertino,” Georgia Griffin, CC ‘29, told The Fed. “They always say ‘like’ after every five words, or gush about Erewhon or their Stanford friend’s AI startup. It’s charming at first, but it gets annoying after the third person tries to pull the same schtick.”
“Every New York transplant from California is part of a hive mind,” One sophomore, who spoke to The Fed on the condition of anonymity, commented. “My whole friend group is from SoCal, and I can’t get through a meal without wanting to strangle the vocal fry out of them.”
As of early February, the seminar holds a waitlist of over 50 students for just a measly 20 spots. In an apparent response to SIPA’s controversial new seminar, the Human Rights department of the University of California, Berkeley, has announced the development of a course that explores the “worst” New Yorkers, including Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, and J.Lo.
