What’s New
More than 100 people were arrested Tuesday night as officers with the New York Police Department swept through the Columbia University campus in an effort to remove an encampment and Pro-Palestinian protesters who since earlier that day had occupied Hamilton Hall, according to multiple media reports.
Police officers climbed through a window and entered the building, which had been vandalized by the protesters, according to media photos and videos. The decision to storm Hamilton Hall came after talks between the demonstrators and university leadership broke down Monday. The university had demanded the encampment come down on Sunday, and that all students who remained would be suspended.
When the protesters entered Hamilton Hall after the building closed for the evening, Columbia’s president, Nemat (Minouche) Shafik, asked the police department to assist in removing the students from both the building and the encampment. “With the utmost regret, we request the NYPD’s help to clear all individuals from Hamilton Hall and all campus encampments,” she said in a letter to the NYPD.
The Background
At an April 17 congressional hearing about antisemitism, Shafik vowed before lawmakers to crack down on unapproved protests and antisemitism, and tighten security on campus. The first encampment was erected at Columbia University that same day, and more than 100 people were arrested April 18 after refusing to take it down. The demonstrators have demanded the university divest from companies with ties to Israel’s government, improve transparency in university finances, and grant amnesty for students and some faculty who have been disciplined for protesting.
Meanwhile, increasingly violent campus demonstrations have erupted across the country, and colleges are turning to law enforcement to regain control. At City College of New York, police cleared an encampment Tuesday night and reportedly arrested 173 people, including some students. Protests have also ignited at the University of California at Los Angeles, the Johns Hopkins University, the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and the University of Texas at Austin. Meanwhile, the University of Southern California has decided to cancel its main commencement ceremony after the administration cited safety concerns due to the demonstrations.
Campus Activism
Encampments and sit-ins proliferated across the country in April, May, and June. Our map has been updated to include recent encampments at Wayne State University, the University of California at Santa Cruz, and a handful of other institutions.
Shafik said Columbia would not divest from its financial ties to Israel as student protesters demanded, but she did offer for the university to invest in health care and education in Gaza, and also promised more transparency in the college’s finances. In a statement, Shafik defended her decision Tuesday to request police assistance to break up the encampment and clear Hamilton Hall, which resulted in the arrests of 109 people.
“Columbia has a long and proud tradition of protest and activism on many important issues such as the Vietnam War, civil rights, and the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa,” she wrote in a letter released early Wednesday. “Today’s protesters are also fighting for an important cause, for the rights of Palestinians and against the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza. They have many supporters in our community and have a right to express their views and engage in peaceful protest.
“But students and outside activists breaking Hamilton Hall doors, mistreating our Public Safety officers and maintenance staff, and damaging property are acts of destruction, not political speech. Many students have also felt uncomfortable and unwelcome because of the disruption and antisemitic comments made by some individuals, especially in the protests that have persistently mobilized outside our gates.”
What’s Next
The embattled university president doubled down on security at the campus Wednesday. Columbia closed all but one gate to its Morningside Heights campus and has limited access to students living in the dormitories and dining, public safety, and maintenance staff. New York City police will maintain a presence on campus for the remainder of the semester. So far, the college has no plans to cancel commencement.
“It is going to take time to heal, but I know we can do that together,” Shafik wrote. “I hope that we can use the weeks ahead to restore calm, allow students to complete their academic work, and honor their achievements at Commencement. We also must continue with urgency our ongoing dialogue on the important issues that have been raised in recent months, especially the balance between free speech and discrimination and the role of a university in contributing to better outcomes in the Middle East. Both are topics where I hope Columbia can lead the way in new thinking that will make us the epicenter, not just of protests, but of solutions to the world’s problems.”
