(🧵 1/5) At tonight's University Senate governance forum, @jrslaugh told the audience @Columbia was "in violation" of its 1810 charter's $20,000 real estate cap. He said he'd "searched through all the archives". Three panelists, including a constitutional law prof, nodded along.
@jrslaugh @Columbia (🧵 2/6) The New York Legislature repealed that provision in 1884. It's on page 55 of Columbia's own published charter documents. Took about five minutes to find.
@jrslaugh @Columbia (🧵 3/6) @jrslaugh also claimed the 1810 charter refers to "the furniture of the mind" as evidence the trustees are misreading archaic language to justify their authority.
@jrslaugh @Columbia (🧵 4/6) The phrase does not appear in @Columbia's 1810 charter, nor in any of its three predecessor charters. It comes from the @Yale Report of 1828, which has nothing to do with Columbia.