Dozens of protesters took over a Columbia University building in New York early Tuesday, placing barricades at the entrances and displaying a Palestinian flag through a window, in the latest escalation of demonstrations against the war between Israel and Hamas that are taking place. have spread to college campuses across the country.
Video footage showed protesters on Columbia’s Manhattan campus locking arms in front of Hamilton Hall early Tuesday and carrying furniture and metal barricades into the building, one of several that were occupied during a civil rights protest. and against the Vietnam War in 1968 on campus.
On an Instagram page by protest organizers shortly after midnight, people were urged to protect the encampment and join them at Hamilton Hall.
“An autonomous group claimed Hind’s Hall, formerly known as ‘Hamilton Hall,’ in honor of Hind Rajab, a martyr murdered at the hands of the genocidal Israeli state at the age of six,” CU Apartheid Divest published in X, formerly known as Twitter, early Tuesday
The student radio station WKCR-FM broadcast live the takeover of the pavilion, which occurred almost 12 hours after the 2:00 p.m. Monday deadline for protesters to abandon a camp of about 120 tents or face clashes. to a suspension.
University representatives did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment early Tuesday.
In message
Hamilton Hall has been occupied by Columbia University students on multiple occasions, dating back to 1968, when protesters took over the building over the Vietnam War, racism and the university’s plans to build a new gymnasium in Morningside Park.
Students took over the building again in 1985, when they demanded that the university divest from companies considered complicit in the apartheid regime in South Africa, and in 1992, when they protested against the university’s plans to convert the Audubon Theater and Ballroom – the building in which Malcolm X was murdered – in a biomedical research complex.
In a message posted to the public safety section of its website, Columbia University said it was limiting access to the Morningside campus to students residing in Carman, Furnald, John Jay, Hartley, Wallach, East Campus and Wien . Employees providing essential services will also be allowed access to campus buildings, laboratories and residential student life.
The only access point to enter and exit the campus is the gate at 116th Street and Amsterdam. All other entry points are closed, the university said.
“This access restriction will remain in place until circumstances allow otherwise,” the message reads.
Universities across the U.S. are grappling with how to clear encampments as graduation ceremonies approach, with some negotiations underway and others resorting to force and ultimatums that have led to clashes with police.
Dozens of people were arrested Monday during protests at universities in Texas, Utah and Virginia, while Columbia said hours before the storming of Hamilton Hall that it had begun suspending students.
Protesters clash over the war between Israel and Hamas and its rising death toll, and the number of arrests on campuses across the country approaches 1,000 as the final days of classes conclude. The protest is forcing universities to reconsider their financial ties to Israel, as well as their support for free speech.
Some Jewish students say the protests have spiraled into anti-Semitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus.
At the University of Texas at Austin, a lawyer said at least 40 protesters were detained Monday.
The confrontation was an escalation on the 53,000-student campus in the state capital, where more than 50 protesters were detained last week.
Later on Monday, dozens of University of Utah riot officers attempted to break up an afternoon encampment outside the university president’s office.
The police dragged the students hand and foot, breaking the poles that held up the tents and zip-tying those who refused to disperse.
Seventeen people were arrested.
The university says overnight camping is prohibited on its campus and that students were given several warnings to disperse before police were called.
The situation of the detained students has become one of the central issues of the protests, with students and a growing number of teachers demanding an amnesty for protesters. The question is whether suspensions and court records will follow students throughout their adult lives.
The Texas protest and others — including those in Canada and Europe — grew out of the first Columbia demonstrations, which have continued.
On Monday, student activists defied the 2pm deadline to leave the camp. In their place, hundreds of protesters remained.
A handful of counterprotesters waved Israeli flags, and one held a sign that read: “Where are the anti-Hamas chants?”
Although the university did not call police to remove the protesters, school spokesman Ben Chang said suspensions had begun but could not provide many details. Protest organizers said they were not aware of any suspensions as of Monday night.
Columbia’s handling of the protests has also led to federal complaints.
A class action lawsuit on behalf of Jewish students alleges a breach of contract by Columbia, alleging that the university failed to maintain a safe learning environment, despite policies and promises. It also questions the abandonment of in-person classes and calls for swift court action to force Columbia to provide security for students.
Meanwhile, a legal group representing pro-Palestinian students is urging the U.S. Department of Education’s civil rights office to investigate whether Columbia is complying with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for their treatment.
A university spokesperson declined to comment on the complaints.
In a rare case, Northwestern University said it had reached an agreement with students and faculty representing the majority of protesters on its campus near Chicago.
It allows peaceful demonstrations until June 1, when spring classes end, and in exchange requires the removal of all tents except one aid tent, and restricts the demonstration area to allow only students, faculty and staff, unless otherwise approved by the university.
At the University of Southern California, organizers of a large encampment met for about 90 minutes Monday with university President Carol Folt. Folt did not want to go into details, but she said she had heard protesters’ concerns and that talks would continue Tuesday.
USC sparked controversy on April 15 when authorities refused to allow its valedictorian, who has publicly supported Palestinians, to deliver a commencement speech, citing unspecific security reasons for their rare decision.
Administrators then suppressed the commencement address by filmmaker Jon M. Chu, who is a former student, and refused to award honorary degrees.
The reaction, as well as the Columbia demonstrations, inspired last week’s camping and protests on campus, where 90 people were detained by riot police. The university has canceled its main graduation ceremony.
Administrators elsewhere have tried to save their graduation ceremonies, and several have ordered the evacuation of camps in recent days. When these efforts have failed, officials have threatened disciplinary action, including suspension, and possible arrests.
However, students held firm at other major universities, including Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Yale, and others. Riot police at Virginia Commonwealth University attempted to break up an encampment late Monday and clashed with protesters
