Columbia University students in New York have overtaken a campus building Tuesday as pro-Palestinian protests continue at colleges nationwide.
The students, many wearing masks, linked arms and blocked the entrances to Hamilton Hall with metal barricades and furniture. A flag that says “Free Palestine” is hanging from one of the windows.
Columbia began suspending student protesters after warning them Monday to vacate their sprawling anti-Israel encampment or face disciplinary action, moving to restore order after days of negotiations reached an impasse.
University spokesperson Ben Chang said protesters were told to leave the tent city covering the West Lawn by 2 p.m. Eastern after President Minouche Shafik rejected demands to divest from Israel and encouraged the students to “voluntarily disperse.”
“Students who agreed to leave and sign a form committing to abide by University policies will be allowed to complete the semester,” said Mr. Chang in his daily update. “Students who do not will be placed on suspension, ineligible to complete the semester or graduate, and will be restricted from all academic, residential, and recreational spaces.”
Evidently, some students were unwilling to abide by the university’s terms.
“We have begun suspending students as part of this next phase of our efforts to ensure safety on our campus,” said Mr. Chang. “Once disciplinary action is initiated, adjudication is handled by several different units within the University based on the nature of the offense.”
He said the university also encouraged the protesters to dismantle the encampment.
After Columbia issued its 2 p.m. deadline, more than a dozen faculty in orange vests formed a human chain at the encampment’s entrance to block access to the students, as shown in a video posted by independent reporter Katie Smith.
Earlier Monday, Ms. Shafik said that the “University will not divest from Israel,” ruling out the primary demand being made by protesters in charge of the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” covering the West lawn in violation of university rules.
She said the university did offer to expedite the process for reviewing divestment proposals brought before the Advisory Committee for Socially Responsible Investing, but that compromise failed to win over the anti-Israel activists.
“Since Wednesday, a small group of academic leaders has been in constructive dialogue with student organizers to find a path that would result in the dismantling of the encampment and adherence to University policies going forward,” she said in a statement. “Regretfully, we were not able to come to an agreement.”
Columbia University Apartheid Divest, which is leading the protest, said the administration’s offer was “unacceptable,” saying it “amounts to a mere suggestion to the Board of Trustees, which they are authorized to ignore.”
Please visit the link to read the complete statement from President Shafik: https://t.co/aOqZVezkfe pic.twitter.com/G82lD4I9JS
— Columbia University (@Columbia) April 29, 2024
The standoff imperils Columbia‘s May 15 commencement ceremony.
Columbia had already given up much of its leverage by going to remote learning and ruling out bringing back the New York Police Department to clear out the encampment. A spokesperson said Saturday there is “no truth to claims of an impending lockdown or evictions on campus.”
Ms. Shafik made a plea to protesters to consider their classmates who were denied in-person high school ceremonies as a result of the 2020 pandemic.
“We want to reassure our community who are trying to make plans that we will indeed hold a commencement,” she said. “For all of the reasons above, we urge those in the encampment to voluntarily disperse. We are consulting with a broader group in our community to explore alternative internal options to end this crisis as soon as possible.”
Student protesters at CUAD said in a statement on Substack that the university “undermined the negotiation process by threatening its political opponents with soldiers, mass eviction, and at times, the restriction of basic needs.”
The protesters also said that “Columbia informed us that it will start distributing flyers with disciplinary information at the encampment” starting Monday, although they didn’t appear too worried.
“This is nothing to be alarmed by and is merely another scare tactic,” said CUAD. “Any disciplinary flyer handed to you for being on the lawn is unenforceable if you remain masked.”
Why? The group said that the university cannot discipline students without first “identifying your name and UNI [university].”
“Basic masking precautions can prevent this,” said CUAD. “Furthermore, the University‘s protest policy has a three strikes rule, which means being charged with a conduct violation has no impact whatsoever on you at this time unless the University has already charged you, by email, at least two other times.”
The student group’s three “core demands” are divestment from Israel; “financial transparency,” and “amnesty for all students and faculty disciplined in the movement for Palestinian liberation.”
Police arrested more than 100 campus protesters last week on trespassing charges after Columbia sought the NYPD’s assistance in clearing the campus, prompting a faculty walkout and outrage from students.
Meanwhile, Columbia faces pressure from congressional Republicans to clear out the student encampment over concerns about the safety of Jewish students, some of whom have left campus after being urged to do so by a Columbia-affiliated rabbi.
House Speaker Mike Johnson and others have called on Ms. Shafik to restore order or resign, while the House Education and the Workforce Committee is investigating rising campus antisemitism spurred by the anti-Israel student protests.
Anti-Israel student protests and encampments have rocked college campuses nationwide, prompting the University of Southern California to announce last week that it would cancel its commencement ceremony.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, New York Republican, urged the Columbia administration to stop negotiating and take back control of the campus.
“Columbia has surrendered to the radical pro-Hamas antisemitic mob instead of securing campus and protecting Columbia‘s Jewish students,” she said in a Monday statement. “There can be no more extensions or delays. There can be no negotiations with self-proclaimed Hamas terrorists and their sympathizers.”
• This article was based in part on wire service reports.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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