Howard W. French is a columnist at Foreign Policy, a professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and a longtime foreign correspondent. His latest book is Born in Blackness: Africa, Africans and the Making of the Modern World, 1471 to the Second World War.
This black-and-white photo shows students and faculty milling about near the front entrance of a large building fronted with limestone columns and a wide stone staircase. The man closest to the camera has just stepped onto a pathway leading onto the quad, shaded by a nearby tree.
A propaganda poster depicts Chairman Mao inside the open top of a jeep reaching out toward an adoring crowd who wave red flags and hold little red books.
![A person holds up a sign at a protest that reads: "Keep Your [picture of hands] OFF The Students"](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Columbia-protests-GettyImages-2204533603.jpg?w=800?quality=90)
