Photo via Wikimedia . I wrote the following statement to read at a disciplinary conduct meeting for Barnard College this April. I’d been charged for participating in two demonstrations, held in the wake of the kidnapping of our fellow student Mahmoud Khalil from a Columbia-owned building. This statement has been lightly edited to be read aloud at the 24-Hour Faculty Speakout in early May. Since then, Barnard has deferred my degree conferral. Mahmoud is still being held in an ICE detention center. —Tali Beckwith-Cohen Dear Barnard Conduct, I applied to Barnard, early decision, because I was craving a rigorous and expansive liberal arts education. As I’ve told prospective students on all the tours I’ve given in my role as an admissions representative, I wanted to be intellectually stimulated, I wanted to be challenged, I wanted classmates and professors who would push me to see the world differently and give me a greater appreciation and understanding of the world around me.…