Pressure rises amid Columbia protests, as lawmakers call on president to resign

Source: Politico | April 22, 2024 | Madina Touré and Irie Sentner

Pressure rises amid Columbia protests, as lawmakers call on university president to resign

As a pro-Palestinian encampment entered its sixth day, New York police officers in riot gear surrounded the Upper Manhattan campus.

NEW YORK — People of divergent political beliefs found a common voice in one thing at Columbia University Monday: Criticizing the school president over her handling of escalating campus tensions.

Republicans accused the school of being soft on incidents of antisemitism. Pro-Palestinian student protesters argued the university inappropriately called in the New York Police Department to squash free speech. Faculty staged a mass walkout.

Amid the unrest, as the Jewish holiday of Passover approached, university President Minouche Shafik made classes virtual and urged students living off campus not to come to the Ivy League school.

Lines of New York Police Department officers donning riot gear and carrying zip-ties surrounded the Upper Manhattan campus.

It was the latest instance of growing strife on prominent college campuses across the country as students, professors and politicians grapple with fallout from the war in Gaza.

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As Republican legislators and personalities rallied across the street from campus to denounce the protesters, accusing them of supporting Hamas militants and terrorism, Jewish Democratic representatives held a competing news conference at the Columbia and Barnard’s Hillel building.

“Over the past several days, the rhetoric has escalated to a point where Jewish students feel unsafe, insecure and broadly harassed, to the point where the president had to cancel classes today and make them virtual,” said Rep. Daniel Goldman, who represents Brooklyn and Manhattan. “That is unacceptable for a university. That is unacceptable for an academic institution.”

He and fellow Democrats at the rally didn’t call for Shafik to step down — yet.

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