Public Safety reiterated Columbia’s policy against tenting in a 10:34 p.m. email to the University community following an NBC article detailing protesters’ plans for encampments on the Morningside and Manhattanville campuses. 

“We want to clearly communicate that camping and encampments are prohibited by University Policy,” the email reads. “Our University Rules and Policies prioritize academic activities and communal use of campus space.”

Public Safety wrote that if an encampment were to occur, officers would immediately “remove tents or other structures” from the area, restrict access to “affected areas” and potentially enforce additional instructions to campus access, and instruct participants to disperse. 

“Individuals who refuse to disperse will be identified and sanctions, including potential removal from campus and possible arrest, may be applied,” the email reads. 

The email links to an Office of Rules Administration web page, which Rules Administrator Gregory Wawro updated on April 9, stating that any potential encampment would violate the Rules of University Conduct. 

Columbia and Barnard students established the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on April 17, 2024, which lasted for 13 days. Former University president Minouche Shafik called the New York Police Department to campus and authorized officers to make arrests on two separate occasions, leading to over 200 arrests.

“We value expression and the right to protest,” the email reads. “These activities must be conducted in accordance with University Rules and Policies to ensure the safety of our community and that academic and other campus activities can continue unimpeded.”

— tulasi.cherukuri@columbiaspectator.com 

Read more here.

Around two dozen protesters sat down in front of the 116th Street and Amsterdam gates at around 12:00 p.m. on Monday, with at least three tethering themselves to the gates with bike locks.

“Today, a group of Columbia University students and alumni chained themselves to the campus gates, demanding the release of Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi,” a joint Monday Instagram post from Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition, the Columbia chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, and Columbia University Alumni for Palestine read.

Protesters tied cards with the names of Palestinians killed in Gaza onto the gates and hung a banner with four demands: the release of Palestinian activists Mahmoud Khalil, SIPA ’24, Mohsen Mahdawi, GS ’25, from Immigration and Customs Enforcement; financial disclosure; instating Columbia as a sanctuary campus; and the opening of the University gates. Read the developing story here.

Public Safety officers cut the locks and forced protesters outside the gate at around 2 p.m. Protesters then sat down outside the gate and locked arms.

A University spokesperson wrote in a statement to Spectator that Wednesday’s protest “constitutes violations of the Rules of University Conduct.”

“Individuals complied with the demand for identification but refused to leave the area,” the spokesperson wrote. “The chains were removed by Columbia’s Public Safety and the individuals were escorted off campus. We will follow the process established in the Rules of University Conduct for enforcing violations. Our focus is on preserving our core mission to teach, create, and advance knowledge while ensuring a safe campus for our community.”

Public Safety officers told individuals who were wearing masks and standing between Fayerweather Hall and the chapel that they had the right to request student identification. Officers asked individuals standing on the ledge of Fayerweather to leave. 

“If you are a student, we have the right to ask for your name,” a Public Safety Officer told an individual wearing a mask. 

“We will be staying here until they meet the bare minimum demands, which is to tell us which trustee is responsible for informing on students and telling ICE confidential information which is leading to their kidnapping,” a protester announced at the protest. 

Columbia University Alumni for Palestine announced in an Instagram post an emergency rally outside the chapel’s gates at 6:30 p.m.  Read the developing story here.

Four pro-Palestinian demonstrators chained themselves to the gate near St. Paul’s Chapel at around noon in support of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, SIPA ’24, who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on March 8.

A Wednesday post from Columbia’s chapter of Jewish Voice Peace cites a March 10 report from the Forward in which Ross Glick, former leader of Betar, a self-described “bold Zionist movement,” said he visited Washington, D.C. to meet with officials about Khalil.

“We demand to know the names of the Columbia trustees who facilitated the abduction of our beloved friend by collaborating with the Trump administration,” the post read. “We will not leave until our demand is met.”

At around 1 p.m., NYPD officers carrying electric saws arrived on the scene. Several officers are present at the demonstration, including officers from the Strategic Response Group. Read the developing story here.

Read the full story here.