As students and protests return to campus, Columbia tries new
restrictions, leadership
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[August 30, 2024]
By Jonathan Allen
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The new school year is still days away, but student
protesters have already made a noisy return to Columbia University's New
York campus, the epicenter of a pro-Palestinian protest movement that
spread to schools around the world this spring.
Blowing whistles and banging drums, pots and pans and the iron railings
of the closed campus gates, about 50 protesters marched on the sidewalk
on Sunday evening and bellowed pro-Palestinian chants. A New York Police
Department surveillance drone hovered over their heads.
Inside the gates, more than 1,000 new Columbia undergraduates had
gathered for a convocation ceremony. Dr. Katrina Armstrong, Columbia's
new interim president, was able to make herself heard over the
protesters' din, describing to the new students her vision of the campus
as a place of open debate where no one feels excluded.
Columbia administrators are hoping to avoid a repeat of the protests
that roiled the university earlier this year, which culminated with
hundreds of armed police officers sweeping the campus in April to arrest
more than 30 student protesters who had barricaded themselves inside an
academic building.
Since the spring, college administrators across the U.S. and beyond have
grappled with tent encampments inspired by the Columbia protests
spreading to their own campuses, followed by pro-Israel counterprotests.
Some administrators also called in police; a minority have reached
agreements over demands to sever financial ties with Israel.
"Effectively managing protests and demonstrations allows us to advance
our educational and research missions while enabling free speech and
debate," Armstrong, the dean of Columbia's medical school, wrote in a
campus-wide email last week.
She has been interim leader since Minouche Shafik resigned as president
earlier this month after facing criticism over handling of the protests,
including a vote of no confidence by Arts and Sciences faculty angered
by her decision to call in police to arrest students.
The pro-Palestinian protests have been led by Columbia University
Apartheid Divest (CUAD), a coalition of student groups demanding the
school end its investments in weapons manufacturers and other companies
that support Israel's military occupation of Palestinian territories.
Over the summer, mediators had little success trying to revive
negotiations between Columbia administration and CUAD, according to
Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian graduate student who is one of the main
negotiators on behalf of CUAD.
"The university should actually deal with the students as students, not
as a threat to Columbia and the Columbia brand," he said. Columbia
declined requests to interview administration officials and a
spokesperson declined to answer questions about the talks with CUAD.
CHANGES TO CAMPUS
As faculty and students return to Columbia ahead of classes resuming on
Tuesday, they are already noticing new restrictions and other changes to
its campus.
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Protesters gather as students and families arrive for convocation,
in front of a main gated entrance of Columbia University, amid the
ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in New York City, U.S.,
August 25, 2024. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs/File Photo
The hedge-lined south lawns that had been yellowed by tent
encampments are now lush and green, with public safety officers
guarding the entrances and new signs noting that camping is banned
by school rules.
Gates to the campus that have been kept open for decades to the
surrounding city streets are closed under a new system restricting
access, with guards allowing in only those with Columbia ID and
pre-registered guests.
Most days, CUAD students set up a small table draped with a
Palestinian flag to the side of one of the main campus entrances,
handing out flyers and pamphlets, some designed with new students in
mind.
Across campus, officials have set up fences and gates on wheels
which can be rolled across walkways to cordon off small areas. A
group of senior officers from the New York Police Department
inspected the cordons during a campus tour last week.
Mariam Jallow, the incoming elected president of the Columbia
College Student Council, said she was optimistic about the new
leadership.
"It's a fresh start that we really need," Jallow, a history major,
said of Armstrong. "She doesn't have a lot of the burdens that
President Shafik had, and there's still a lot of grievances and
grudges held from last year."
Jallow, who is not a part of CUAD, said it was not easy representing
a diverse group of students, but noted that the main demands of CUAD,
which was formed in 2016, had long had broad support among students
at Columbia's main undergraduate school. CUAD called for a
referendum of Columbia College students in 2020, and about 60% voted
in support of Columbia divesting from Israel; that rose to about 76%
in an April referendum.
Over the summer, Columbia administrators continued disciplinary
proceedings against more than 60 students, including Khalil, accused
of breaking campus rules with their involvement in CUAD protests.
Some students say the university is dragging out the investigations
to discourage protests. A Columbia spokesperson said the school was
"working to expedite" the investigations.
(Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; Additional reporting by
Caitlin Ochs; Editing by Donna Bryson and Daniel Wallis)
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