Protesters against the Gaza War ignore Columbia University’s ultimatum to dismantle their camp or risk expulsion

Pro-Palestinian student demonstrators faced increasing pressure from US colleges to vacate their tent encampments on Monday. Columbia University even issued an ultimatum, asking students to sign a document and leave the encampment by the afternoon or risk being suspended.

 

Activists from Columbia disregarded the deadline by chanting, clapping, and drumming from their camp, which numbered more than 300. Despite the deadline having passed, at least 120 tents remained up, and no officers were seen entering the campsite.

The Ivy League institution in Manhattan delivered a warning to protestors at the campsite on Monday, stating that they may complete the semester in good standing provided they departed by the deadline and signed a paper pledging to follow the university’s standards until June 2025 or an early graduation. The letter said that they would be suspended pending further investigation if they don’t.

Pro-Palestinian protests spread throughout the nation in response to early protests at Columbia University, when protesters erected tents in the middle of the campus. Students and others have been arguing over the growing number of deaths in the Israel-Hamas conflict. Numerous students are requesting that their colleges sever their financial connections to Israel. Almost 1,000 arrests have occurred on college campuses around the country.

There’s an added motivation for colleges to remove encampments as the semester comes to an end and campuses get ready for graduation festivities. This spring, the University of Southern California postponed its major commencement event. Others want the demonstrations to end amicably so they may continue with their celebrations.

As school year ends, fewer new tent encampments are popping up around the nation. However, at other prestigious institutions, students have dug in at their tent encampments; demonstrators and officials at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Yale, and other campuses are still at odds.

On Sunday afternoon, protesters at Yale erected a new camp with dozens of tents, about a week after police broke up and evicted a neighboring camp that included close to fifty people. Protesters and school authorities stated that later on Sunday, they received a notification from a Yale official that if they continued to camp out on the grassy area known as Cross Campus, they may face consequences, including suspension, and perhaps even arrest. There was no time limit for leaving.

Yale stated in a statement on Monday that while it respects free speech and nonviolent demonstrations, it would not stand for policy transgressions like the encampment. According to school administrators, organizations need authorization to have activities and erect structures on campus, and the demonstration is taking place close to residential colleges where a large number of students are preparing for final examinations.

There were still protests going on at many other universities. The institution released a statement after demonstrators at an encampment close to George Washington institution broke through and destroyed the gates that guarded University Yard on Monday morning. It was closed since last week in the yard.

On Saturday, over 275 individuals were taken into custody at a number of universities, including Arizona State University, Washington University in St. Louis, and Indiana University in Bloomington.

Exams are starting, and graduation is coming up, Columbia authorities said in a letter to student demonstrators.

“We urge you to remove the encampment so that we do not deprive your fellow students, their families and friends of this momentous occasion,” the letter said.

The primary protestor negotiator, Mahmoud Khalil, said that university personnel started distributing the notifications at the campsite just after 10 a.m. on Monday. A Columbia representative acknowledged that the letter had been sent to students, but she would not elaborate.

Students who vacate the campsite will be placed on disciplinary probation until June 2025, per the conditions outlined in the letter. The offer is not available to students who are currently in the reprimand process or who may be charged with harassment or discrimination as a result of their behavior during the encampment.

Tents in the colors red and orange remained up on the lawn while demonstrators thought over the administration’s most recent offer of amnesty. A hundred feet away, folks were sipping coffee in the beautiful springtime light at a student café that was open.

Staff and students waited in line for security checks on one side of the closed campus, across from a group of TV vehicles. A policeman waited at the opposite side of an unmarked black car that had red and blue lights blinking softly.

Columbia University has had to offer remote courses as a result of the protests, and the protestors have missed many deadlines given for them to vacate the campsite. In an email to pupils, the school said that it would be ineffective to bring back the police “at this time”.

President of the institution Minouche Shafik said in a statement on Monday that while the administration and students have discussed ways to stop the disturbances, they have not reached a consensus. The institution said that after examinations and graduation, it would provide a different location for the demonstrations.

Federal complaints have been made over Columbia’s handling of the demonstrations.

A class-action complaint filed on behalf of Jewish students claims Columbia violated their contract by neglecting to maintain a secure learning environment in spite of its rules and commitments. It also demands that Columbia ensure student protection, contests the shift away from in-person instruction, and files a swift lawsuit.

Concurrently, a legal collective advocating for pro-Palestinian students is pressing the US Department of Education’s civil rights office to look into Columbia’s adherence to the 1964 Civil Rights Act over their treatment.

Students and an increasing number of faculty members are calling for amnesty for protestors, and the situation of those who have been detained has become a focal point of demonstrations. Whether the suspensions and court records will follow the kids into adulthood is in question.