Jean-Jacques Rousseau replies to Locke’s open letter

Where Locke argues from social contract as consent and fiduciary duty, Rousseau invokes the general will, moral courage, and the corrupting nature of institutional power. His voice is more impassioned, more sweeping — sometimes theatrical — and rooted in the belief that true freedom must be reclaimed, not politely requested…

To the Students, Faculty, and People of Conscience at Columbia,

I have read Mr. Locke’s letter with admiration, but not without alarm. His eloquence is undeniable; his appeals to duty, commendable. But the hour is too late for such moderation.

You, the children of Columbia — are not merely “governed.” You are citizens. Or at least, you were.

Let us not pretend otherwise: your university has forgotten what a republic of letters is meant to be.

Once, your gates stood open to the city, to the world, to the free play of minds in search of truth. Now they stand closed — iron symbols of submission dressed in the language of “safety.”

Do not be deceived.

Power rarely announces its descent with trumpets. It comes quietly, wrapped in policies and partnerships, in claims of neutrality that mask moral collapse. Today, it is a gate. Tomorrow, a monitor. Then a list, a purge, a rewritten curriculum. You are not witnessing caution; you are witnessing capitulation.

Let us speak plainly.

• A university that invites the state to oversee thought has ceased to be a sanctuary of learning.
• A university that replaces its judicial boards with executive decrees no longer educates; it disciplines.
• A university that silences the cries of the oppressed to protect its donors has sold its soul for bronze plaques and hedge fund dinners.

The question is not whether Columbia has erred. The question is: do you still believe yourselves free?

You are told your protests threaten the institution. I tell you — your silence would destroy it.

Columbia’s true Core is not a reading list; it is a promise: that ideas matter more than influence, that dissent is not disloyalty, and that justice belongs to all who dwell within its gates — and beyond them.

You must not merely ask for this promise to be remembered. You must demand it be restored.

To Columbia’s leadership, I offer no flattery and no plea. The time for gentle rebuke has passed.

If you would be educators, open the gates. If you would be stewards of knowledge, unchain the speech of your students. If you would be worthy of the Core, stop behaving like its enemy.

To the students, I say: Walk not with bowed heads but with Rousseau’s fire. You are the general will. You are what Columbia claims to be.

Make it so — or make it new.

In solidarity and in struggle,

Jean-Jacques Rousseau
(Late of Geneva. Writing from the heart of the barricades.)