Columbia University officials said on Monday they could not reach an agreement with student protesters who set up a tent encampment on the school’s Morningside Heights campus in opposition to the Israel-Hamas war — and raised concerns about potential disruptions to graduation events slated for next month.
University President Minouche Shafik said in a statement that academic leaders have been in “constructive dialogue” with student protesters since last Wednesday “to find a path forward that would result in the dismantling of the encampment and adherence to university policies going forward.”
But Shafik said Columbia “will not divest from Israel,” rejecting a key demand from the protesters, who have called for the university to pull its financial stakes out of companies tied to Israel amid the war. Such a move could be complicated, in part because Columbia and other universities do not publicly disclose all their investments.
Shafik said university leaders offered to expedite their review of other divestment proposals from student demonstrators and make it easier for students to access a list of Columbia’s “direct investment holdings.”
Spokespeople for Columbia did not respond to questions about whether the negotiations with protesters would continue. Shafik said the administration was urging the encampment participants to “voluntarily disperse” and that it was “consulting with a broader group in our community to explore alternative internal options to end this crisis as soon as possible.”
The stalemate comes less than two weeks after Columbia’s administration called in the NYPD to clear out an encampment on the campus’ main lawn, leading to the arrests of more than 100 people. The student protesters returned with tents soon after, and the university converted all its classes to hybrid learning to the extent possible for the remainder of the academic year.
Monday marks Columbia’s last day of classes before final exams begin on Friday, with commencement scheduled for May 15.
In her statement, Shafik said she had “no intention of suppressing speech or the right to peaceful protest.” University officials in recent days said they did not plan to summon the NYPD again to clear out the encampment “at this time,” because it would be “counterproductive” and further inflame campus tensions.
The protests have largely been peaceful, but there have been several antisemitic incidents around Columbia’s campus that went viral online. Videos shared on social media two weekends ago show some protesters shouting comments like “go back to Poland” at Jewish students on the campus, which drew condemnation from the White House, Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“The encampment has created an unwelcoming environment for many of our Jewish students and faculty,” Shafik said on Monday. “External actors have contributed to creating a hostile environment in violation of Title VI, especially around our gates, that is unsafe for everyone — including our neighbors.”
As the encampment persists, it’s unclear how the school will move ahead with its usual commencement ceremonies. University of Southern California officials announced last week they would cancel their school’s main commencement ceremony due to protests on campus.
Shafik said she wanted to “reassure our community who are trying to make plans that we will indeed hold a Commencement.” She noted that “many in this graduating class did not get a celebration when graduating from high school because of the pandemic, and many of them are the first in their families to earn a University degree.”
The president said protesters can continue to demonstrate on campus “after reading days, exams, and Commencement,” so long as they abide by university policies, which require organizers to apply with two days’ notice and hold any demonstrations in “authorized locations.”
This is a developing story and may be updated.
Leave a Reply