Columbia Threatens Students Occupying Building With Expulsion
Columbia University is threatening to expel students who occupied an administration building. Early Tuesday morning, pro-Palestinian protesters stormed an administration building called Hamilton Hall. The Associated…
Columbia University is threatening to expel students who occupied an administration building.
Early Tuesday morning, pro-Palestinian protesters stormed an administration building called Hamilton Hall.
The Associated Press reports, “Dozens of protesters took over a building at Columbia University in New York early Tuesday, barricading entrances and unfurling a Palestinian flag from a window in the latest escalation of demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war on college campuses nationwide.”
“Protesters on Columbia’s Manhattan campus locked arms in front of Hamilton Hall early Tuesday and carried furniture and metal barricades to the building, among several that were occupied during a 1968 civil rights and anti-Vietnam War protest. Posts on an Instagram page for protest organizers shortly after midnight urged people to protect the encampment and join them at Hamilton Hall,” it added.
In response to the occupation, Columbia spokesperson Ben Chang said, “Students occupying the building face expulsion.”
The AP notes, “Chang said the university had given protesters a chance to leave peacefully and finish the semester, but that those who didn’t agree to the terms from Monday were being suspended — restricted from all academic and recreational spaces, allowed only to enter their residences, and, for seniors, ineligible to graduate.”
Chang added, “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.”
On Tuesday, images surfaced of protesters smashing windows on Columbia’s campus.