Start your day with coffee, conversation, and connection at On What Grounds? CWBA's monthly morning networking series.
What Happened at Columbia—and What Came Next
Join the Colorado Women’s Bar Association for a candid, behind-the-scenes conversation with Amy E. Greer and CWBA President Azra Taslimi, attorneys with direct experience in litigation connected to the events at Columbia University.
Together, they’ll unpack what happened beyond the headlines and the legal questions that continue to shape the fallout.
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The student protests at Columbia University in April 2024 set off a chain reaction that led to more than 180 encampments at universities around the world.
Within days, Columbia had arrested over a hundred students. In the two years since, the university has cycled through four presidents, disclosed student disciplinary records to Congress in a move students say violated federal privacy law, and agreed to a sweeping set of Trump administration demands in exchange for restoring hundreds of millions in federal funding.
All of it has fed into a legal reckoning that’s still playing out over how far a university can go to shut down speech, how far the government can go to force its hand, and what rights students have when the two collide.
Most people only know the snippets. Come hear about the full scope of what happened at Columbia and the legal questions still playing out because of it.
No specific background is required—just come curious about the law, the litigation, and the story behind the headlines.
Guest Speaker: Amy E. Greer
Amy E. Greer is an associate attorney at Dratel & Lewis. She is a member of Mahmoud Khalil’s broader legal team. She has also recently served as a discipline defense advisor for students facing discrimination and disciplinary charges at Columbia and Barnard College, and her broader practice spans state and federal trial and appellate work in extradition, RICO, terrorism, and drug trafficking cases. She began her career as an assistant public defender and as a research attorney for death-sentenced clients.
Conversation Facilitated by Azra Taslimi
Azra Taslimi is the current President of the Colorado Women’s Bar Association and a partner at Rathod | Mohamedbhai LLC in Denver, where she litigates civil rights and employment matters, including First Amendment public employee speech claims, Title VII and CADA discrimination, and § 1983 claims. She is lead attorney in acivil rights suit against Auraria Campus Police over First Amendment claims from a 2024 campus protest.
Greer and Taslimi are co-counsel in Khalil v. Trustees of Columbia University, litigation involving challenges related to Columbia’s disclosure of student disciplinary records and federal government actions.
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