Columbia University Cancels Classes Over Protests

Columbia University has canceled in-person classes on Monday, days after the arrests of more than 100 students for refusing to leave a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the campus.

University President Nemat Minouche Shafik said in an email to the Columbia community, which was also posted on the university's website on Monday, that classes would be held virtually to "deescalate the rancor and give us all a chance to consider next steps."

Asked when in-person classes would resume, a university official told Newsweek: "All Schools and programs should permit the option of remote learning—and when possible, assessment—to students who are seeking academic accommodations due to campus activity for either religious reasons or approved disability accommodation reasons."

Tensions on university campuses have been high over the past six months, with students protesting Israel's war in Gaza, which followed Hamas' unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel. The situation at Columbia escalated last week, when students set up a "Gaza Solidarity Encampment" on campus to protest ongoing military action in Gaza and Columbia's "continued financial investment in corporations that profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide, and occupation in Palestine."

The university called in New York police to clear the encampment on Thursday.

Shafik said it came after the university warned protesters they would be suspended if the encampment was not removed. "The individuals who established the encampment violated a long list of rules and policies," she said.

Shafik added that a "working group of Deans, university administrators and faculty members will try to bring this crisis to a resolution" in the coming days.

"That includes continuing discussions with the student protesters and identifying actions we can take as a community to enable us to peacefully complete the term and return to respectful engagement with each other," she said.

Newsweek has contacted the university for further comment via email.

Police arrested more than 100 demonstrators, including Isra Hirsi, the daughter of Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar.

Police said 108 people, including Hirsi, were charged with trespassing. Two were also charged with obstructing government administration. The university said all of the students involved in the protest encampment had been informed they were suspended.

Pro-Palestinian protesters reorganized on the campus after the arrests.

It came after Shafik on Wednesday came under fire from Republicans at a House hearing on antisemitism on campus. Shafik took a firm stance against antisemitism during the hearing, saying she was "committed to doing everything I can to confront it directly."

In response to questioning, Shafik and other Columbia officials said some protesters had used antisemitic language.

Meanwhile, a rabbi associated with the university called for Jewish students to leave campus due to a rise of "extreme antisemitism and anarchy" after it was reported that Jewish students who gathered to protest antisemitism were threatened with "hate speech" and "calls to violence."

A video shared on social media also reportedly showed a protester telling Jewish students that "the 7th of October is going to be every day for you" near Columbia's campus.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates shared a statement with reporters that said: "While every American has the right to peaceful protect, calls for violence and physical intimidation targeting Jewish students and the Jewish community are blatantly Antisemitic, unconscionable, and dangerous—they have absolutely no place on any college campus, or anywhere in the United States of America."

President Joe Biden also referenced the protests at Columbia in a statement issued to mark the Jewish holiday of Passover. "This blatant Antisemitism is reprehensible and dangerous—and it has absolutely no place on college campuses, or anywhere in our country," Biden said.

The Columbia student protesters issued a statement responding to the White House late on Sunday, saying they will continue to peacefully call for "divestment from genocide" and that they are "frustrated by media distractions focusing on inflammatory individuals who do not represent us."

The statement added: "Our members have been misidentified by a politically motivated mob, doxxed in the press, arrested by the NYPD, and locked out of their homes by the university. We have knowingly put ourselves in danger because we can no longer be complicit in Columbia funneling our tuition dollars and grant funding into companies that profit from death.

"As a diverse group united by love and justice, we demand our voices be heard against the mass slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza. We've been horrified each day, watching children crying over the bodies of their slain parents, families without food to eat, and doctors operating without anesthesia. Our university is complicit in this violence and this is why we protest.

"We firmly reject any form of hate or bigotry and stand vigilant against non-students attempting to disrupt the solidarity being forged among students—Palestinian, Muslim, Arab, Jewish, Black, and pro-Palestinian classmates and colleagues who represent the full diversity of our country."

The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, The Associated Press reported, citing local health officials, following Hamas' October 7 attack, which killed around 1,200 people and saw about 250 others taken hostage.

Update 4/22/24, 3:35 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to add additional information.

Update 4/22/24, 11:15 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to add comment from a Columbia University official.