The News
Columbia University is investigating multiple reports of an “unknown substance” sprayed at a pro-Palestinian rally on campus last Friday. The incident followed months of intensifying pressure at the New York university, where administrators have suspended two pro-Palestinian student groups and changed guidelines for campus events.
The Details
Columbia’s public-safety department announced on Sunday that it was working with local and federal authorities to investigate several incidents reported at a pro-Palestinian demonstration held last Friday on campus but not officially authorized by the university.
Dennis A. Mitchell, the university’s interim provost, said in a statement on Monday that the university had received multiple reports from students who said they had been sprayed with a “foul-smelling substance” that required them to “seek medical attention.” The New York City Police Department is “taking the lead role” in the investigation into what Mitchell said “appear to have been serious crimes, possibly hate crimes.” The substance has not been officially identified.
The university identified but did not publicly name alleged perpetrators of the spraying, and “immediately banned” them from campus. Mitchell urged people at the rally to share pictures, videos, and clothing from the demonstration with the campus and city police.
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms any threats or acts of violence directed toward anyone in our community,” Mitchell wrote. “The university is committed to taking urgent action with the appropriate authorities in any such cases. The safety of every single member of this community is paramount.”
A Columbia spokesperson did not respond to specific questions from The Chronicle about the number of reports, how many people had sought medical attention, or any medical guidance given to those affected. The spokesperson directed The Chronicle to Mitchell’s statement and the NYPD for further comment.
In a written statement to The Chronicle, a spokesperson for the NYPD said it received on Saturday one report of “an unknown substance” sprayed into the air, followed by five additional reports on Sunday. In the initial report, a 24-year-old female who had attended the demonstration reported smelling “an unknown odor” and she “began to feel nauseated and experienced a burning sensation in her eyes.”
Layla Saliba, a Palestinian American graduate student in social work who had attended the protest and said she had filed a report with the NYPD, told The Chronicle that the mist “smelled like someone just died.” After the demonstration, Saliba developed a headache and fatigue, she said, and her eyes and skin continue to feel as if they’re burning. “I’ve taken 11 showers,” she added, “and my skin still feels like it’s on fire.”
“I’m in grad school. I should be focusing on my assignments and summer-internship plans instead of looking up on Reddit how to recover from a chemical weapon,” Saliba said. “The experience is just surreal.”
No arrests have been made, and the investigation is continuing.
The Backdrop
The incident marks the latest escalation of tensions at Columbia ignited by the Israel-Hamas war, as administrators across the country have struggled to respond to waves of student demonstrations.
While other colleges have altered campus policies and penalized pro-Palestinian student groups, Columbia has seen some of the most heated interactions among faculty members and students, and its policy changes have fueled further controversy.
After a series of demonstrations in the days after October 7, when the war broke out, the university changed its guidelines for events and said it had the “sole discretion” to punish students and groups for violations of those policies, according to an analysis by the Columbia Daily Spectator, the campus’s student newspaper. Just over two weeks later, the university suspended two pro-Palestinian student groups for the fall semester for “repeatedly violat[ing] university policies related to holding campus events.” Hundreds of students and faculty members protested the suspensions.
The suspensions, however, do not appear to have curbed pro-Palestinian demonstrations on Columbia’s campus. The Spectator found events are now largely being hosted by a gathering of more than 80 student groups, the Columbia University Apartheid Divest coalition, which is not officially recognized by the university.
That was the case last Friday. About 100 demonstrators attended the rally, which had been organized by the coalition and two student groups. It was the last event in a series of demonstrations throughout the spring semester’s first week. Before the rally, the protesters stood outside a “Day of Dialogue” event hosted by Barnard College, a Columbia affiliate, according to the Spectator. The student newspaper also reported that a smaller number of counterprotesters with Israeli and American flags and the pro-Palestinian protesters engaged with one another, yelling through megaphones. It is not clear whether either group included people from off campus.
“Last Friday’s protests were unsanctioned,” a spokesperson told The Chronicle. “We are asking community members to abide by the university’s event policies and procedures that are in place in order to ensure, to the best of our ability, that we are able to deploy resources for the safety of everyone in our community.”
The spokesperson did not answer The Chronicle’s questions about whether the university was pursuing disciplinary actions against the unofficial student groups.
The Stakes
The incidents at Columbia capture the competing pressures on colleges to both protect students and uphold free-speech principles.
Following calamitous congressional testimony on campus antisemitism that contributed to the downfalls of the presidents of Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania, calls continue to pour in from politicians, donors, and other powerful figures to make Jewish students feel safe on campuses. Colleges also face criticism from their students, their faculties, and outside free-speech groups about crackdowns on demonstrations, particularly those that are pro-Palestinian, and overall shortcomings in fostering spaces where students can engage in free expression about the events in the Middle East.
At Columbia, pro-Palestinian student and alumni groups have criticized the university’s handling of the incident, including policy decisions that they say led to this moment as well as the time it took for the institution to respond. The full extent of the fallout from Friday remains unclear for the campus’s already-tense climate and the university’s efforts to walk the tightrope of conflicting interests. Columbia organized in November a 15-person Task Force on Antisemitism that first met in mid-December. In addition to reviewing reporting systems and campus-conduct rules, the university announced several programs and events aimed at “inspiring new agents of positive change, constructive conversations, and a new chapter of our collective work.”
“The right of members of our university to share views that may be unpopular or deemed offensive is protected and fundamental to an academic community that depends on the free exchange of views and ideas,” 18 deans wrote in a message reflecting on the tumultuous fall semester. “We are trying to navigate this intersection of our core commitment to freedom of expression, and our commitment to mutual respect and community.”
