Students at Columbia University in the City of New York held pro-Palestinian protests on campus from April 17-30, facing arrests and possible suspensions. The students were protesting for the Ivy League university to divest from companies supporting Israel’s government. They wanted this due to Israel’s war with Hamas since October 7th, and the country’s general conflict with Palestinian citizens over the past 76 years.
The protests began with the campus south lawn becoming occupied by hundreds of protesters for the Gaza Solidarity Encampment. On day two of the encampment on April 18th, NYPD officers arrested over 100 students on campus. On day three on April 19th, Columbia University began notifying students about possible suspensions for participating in the protest. April 30th marked the day where dozens of protestors occupied Columbia’s Hamilton Hall, one of the academic buildings for undergraduate students.
Protestors also stood outside of the building, chanting “What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now.”
This student-led occupation ended with the New York Police Department (NYPD) entering and removing protesters from the building, along with removing students from all campus encampments entirely. NYPD officials later announced that these protestors could face charges including criminal mischief, trespassing, and burglary. University officials have reported that approximately 30% of protestors arrested at Hamilton Hall had zero affiliation with the school.
“After the University learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized, and blockaded, we were left with no choice. The decision to reach out to the NYPD was in response to the actions of the protesters, not the cause they are championing. We have made it clear that the life of campus cannot be endlessly interrupted by protesters who violate the rules and the law,” Columbia said in a statement.
On April 30th, Columbia University’s vice president of communications Ben Chang spoke in a press briefing, summarizing the school’s response to the protests.
“We made it very clear yesterday that the work of the University cannot be endlessly interrupted by protesters who violate the rules. Continuing to do so will be met with clear consequences. Protesters have chosen to escalate to an untenable situation - vandalizing property, breaking doors and windows, and blockading entrances - and we are following through with the consequences we outlined yesterday,” Chang said. “Disruptions on campus have created a threatening environment for many of our Jewish students and faculty and a noisy distraction that interferes with teaching, learning, and preparing for final exams, and contributes to a hostile environment in violation of Title VI. The safety of our community remains our top priority.”
As a result of these protests and possible security concerns, Columbia University’s main commencement ceremony for the class of 2024 has been canceled. The ceremony was supposed to be held on May 15th on the university’s main lawn, but the school has announced that instead, it will now hold several smaller, individual ceremonies.
Since the start of the Columbia protests, several other college campuses across the country (including, but not limited to University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), The University of Chicago, Dartmouth College, Brown University, and Northwestern University) have held their own. Over 2,500 people across the nation have been arrested due to these protests and encampments.
“Seeing a campus and community I love so much come under attack without a proper and speedy response from UCLA was completely unsettling. It was chilling and it was pure anarchy,” 2023 NHS graduate and current UCLA student Connor Dullinger said.
As of now, the protests are under control by Columbia, and it is unclear as to how other universities plan to deal with their own protests going forward.
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