By Leslie Albrecht
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS — Image-conscious Columbia University students who don't like the publicity hit the prestigious school suffered from a recent frat house drug bust are selling T-shirts to raise money for an "anti-drug abuse campaign."
The effort, dubbed "Operation Ivy League: The Legit Deal," aims to raise $11,000 "toward bettering our community," the four students behind the project say on their Facebook page.
That's the same amount of money undercover officers say they spent buying cocaine, ecstasy, marijuana, LSD and other drugs from five Columbia University students arrested last week after a five-month investigation known as "Operation Ivy League."
The bust and ensuing media coverage are "tainting what Columbia represents to us," say the students, in an open letter to the Columbia community.
They claim the school has been "stigmatized with negative publicity, and we never receive public recognition for how we support the community."
As a counter attack, they want to raise money toward fighting drug abuse, but they don't know exactly what form that project will take yet, they told the Columbia Spectator.
They're taking orders now for the $15 T-shirts and will have them ready after winter break is over, according to their Facebook page.
But at least one Columbia student thinks those dollars could be put to better use. Student Aman Esayu wants his peers to raise bail money for arrested student Harrison David, 20.
David is still behind bars, apparently because his doctor dad won't pay his bail, he told the Daily News. The four other students arrested last week are no longer in custody.
David, who was charged with selling marijuana and cocaine, told investigators that he was selling drugs so he could pay his steep tuition bills, saying, "Why do you think I have to do this sh**, he [David's father] won't pay my tuition."
He was arrested with more than $700 in cash on him, investigators said.
Esayu posted messages on the Operation Ivy League: The Legit Deal Facebook page saying he's emptied his bank account to chip in for David's $75,000 bail and urging others to pony up for the incarcerated classmate.
"It's not our obligation to do anything extraordinary for one another, especially after what they brought to our campus, but if we do not stand up for our peers, who will?" wrote Esayu, who declined to comment.
