April 26, 2024 - Protests at Columbia and other schools escalate

Our live coverage of the protests has moved here.

“Outside agitators” at Columbia are “trying to hijack a peaceful protest,” New York Police Department Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry said Friday night.

“What may have started as a group of Columbia students wanting to express their constitutional right to protest has drawn crowds of outside agitators who are trying to hijack a peaceful protest and turn it something far more sinister,” Daughtry posted on X.

The commissioner added the NYPD has seen the same groups of “professional protestors” demonstrating nightly “at various demonstrations regardless of the message.”

Daughtry reiterated the NYPD is ready to intervene and address issues on Columbia’s campus as soon as the university’s president gives them the go-ahead.

Pro-Palestinian protests continued at major US universities through Friday evening decrying Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.

Throughout the week, several schools called police on protesters, leading to the arrests of hundreds across the country. Protesters have demanded schools divest campus funds from entities connected to Israel.

Israeli attacks in Gaza have killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to the enclave’s health ministry. Hamas’ deadly October 7 attack on Israel killed about 1,200 people.

College administrators are facing increasing pressure from lawmakers to rein in protests. At Columbia - the epicenter of the demonstrations - the school’s senate passed a resolution late Friday to investigate the university leadership’s handling of the protests. 

Here are the latest developments:

Arizona State University: Police at Arizona State University arrested three people Friday on suspicion of trespassing “in connection with setting up an unauthorized encampment,” a university spokesperson said.

Barnard College: The school said it reached resolutions with “nearly all students who were previously placed on interim suspension” for participating in the protest encampment on Columbia’s campus.

Columbia University: The university banned a student spokesperson for the Columbia University Apartheid Divest coalition who said in January “Zionists don’t deserve to live.” He subsequently apologized.

Denver campuses: At a joint campus for the University of Colorado Denver, Community College of Denver and Metropolitan State University of Denver, around 40 of the approximately 100 people who set up a pro-Palestinian encampment were arrested Friday, the campus said in a statement.

Emory University: Faculty gathered on campus to express concerns about the violent arrests that took place on campus on Thursday, with tenured professors calling for the university’s president, Gregory Fenves, to step down over the decision to call in state and local police to clear out the protesters. 

George Washington University: The university said Friday that any student who remains in University Yard may be placed on temporary suspension and administratively barred from campus.

Ohio State University: A total of 36 demonstrators were arrested Thursday night after refusing dispersal orders, according to a preliminary report from the university.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: More than 75 students gathered Friday to set up an encampment at the school, demanding the university divest from corporations that invest in Israel and its military operations.

University of Southern California: School president Carol L. Folt said in a statement the campus has become unsafe and the university will launch an inquiry and take action to protect all USC students, faculty and staff.

University of Texas at Austin: The school has placed the Palestine Solidarity Committee on “interim suspension.” The group organized Wednesday’s event, where over 50 arrests ensued.

Virginia Tech: School officials on Friday issued a statement about an encampment on campus, saying they told protesters the event does not comply with university policy.

Yale University: One letter from the Faculty for Justice in Palestine organization criticized student arrests this week and said faculty are prepared to stage walkouts and boycott Yale’s graduation ceremonies. Another letter denounced Yale’s administration for failing “in your responsibility to protect the Jewish students, staff and faculty at Yale.” 

Around 40 of the approximately 100 people who set up a pro-Palestinian encampment at the Auraria Campus in Denver were arrested Friday, the campus said in a statement. 

The campus is home to the University of Colorado Denver, Community College of Denver as well as the Metropolitan State University of Denver. The arrests were made by Auraria Higher Education Center Police and the Denver Police Department.

“While those who gathered at the onset of Thursday’s protest did so peacefully, some participants established an encampment as the demonstration progressed, which violates those policies,” a the campus said.

Campus and education department officials directed students to dismantle and leave the encampment, and after “protestors did not comply after numerous written and verbal requests, law enforcement stepped in at approximately 12:30 p.m. on Friday to remove the encampments,” the campus statement continued.

Barnard College said it reached resolutions with “nearly all students who were previously placed on interim suspension” for participating in the protest encampment on Columbia’s campus.

The college “immediately restored full access for these students to residence halls, dining facilities, classrooms, and other parts of campus,” according to a statement from the school released Friday.

At least 55 Barnard students were placed on interim suspension for participating in Columbia’s protest encampment, according to a statement from Barnard’s Student Government Association. 

Barnard College declined to comment on the number of students suspended.

Columbia University’s senate voted in favor of a resolution to create a task force to investigate the university leadership’s handling of Pro-Palestinian protests on campus, according to documents obtained by CNN.

The resolution passed Friday alleges, among other things, that the administration jeopardized academic freedom, breached privacy and due process of students and faculty members and violated shared governance principles by calling for police intervention on campus, according to documents on the meeting. 

After the investigation, the task force will present its findings and recommendations to the university’s senate to determine further actions and take the necessary steps to address the alleged misconduct of the administration, according to the documents. 

Some context: The decision comes after the school and university president Minouche Shafik faced criticism from students, faculty and left-leaning lawmakers after Shafik authorized the New York Police Department to shut down student protests on campus, which have urged school leaders to cut off economic and academic ties to Israel. At the same time, students, religious groups and right-leaning lawmakers have said the administration has failed to stop antisemitism inside Columbia’s campus and at protests outside its gates, CNN previously reported.

Columbia’s senate represents people on campus, including faculty, researchers, students, administration and more, according to the school’s website. The body has the authority to make policies on a variety of issues that affect the school.

Police at Arizona State University arrested three people Friday “for trespassing in connection with setting up an unauthorized encampment, in violation of university policy,” a university spokesperson said in a statement to CNN.

“Demonstrations, protests and expressions of free speech are protected at Arizona State University, consistent with the First Amendment. Peaceful expression of views is always acceptable – but demonstrations cannot disrupt university operations,” the statement says.

Encampments, unless they are part of an approved event, are prohibited by the university, the spokesperson said in an earlier statement.

The University of Southern California needed to “act immediately to protect our community” when it came to protests on campus this week, school president Carol L. Folt said in a statement.

 “This week, Alumni Park became unsafe. No one wants to have people arrested on their campus. Ever,” she said. “But, when long-standing safety policies are flagrantly violated, buildings vandalized, DPS directives repeatedly ignored, threatening language shouted, people assaulted, and access to critical academic buildings blocked, we must act immediately to protect our community.”

The university has “long-standing protocols that allow for peaceful protesting” and has been working with the school community to ensure they are followed during the school year, Folt said.

“The current pressures and polarization have taken a toll in ways that break my heart,” she said. “I know Trojans will do what they have always done: share points of view, listen, search for common ground – and find ways to support each other.”

She encouraged anyone in the campus community experiencing harassment or bullying to report it to the school, saying it would launch an inquiry and take action to protect students, faculty and staff “no matter their views.”

Columbia University has banned one of the students leading the university’s pro-Palestinian protests, a university spokesperson told CNN on Friday.  

Khymani James, a student spokesperson for Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) coalition, acknowledged in a post on X that he said, “Zionists don’t deserve to live,” saying it was from an Instagram Live video taken in January.

“I misspoke in the heat of the moment, for which I apologize,” James wrote.

“I want to make clear that calls of violence and statements targeted at individuals based on their religious, ethnic or national identity are unacceptable and violate university policy,” the university spokesperson said.

The American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to leaders at public and private universities Thursday, urging them to make space for student speech and protest.

“As you fashion responses to the activism of your students (and faculty and staff), it is essential that you not sacrifice principles of academic freedom and free speech that are core to the educational mission of your respected institution,” said the letter from the ACLU’s executive director Anthony D. Romero and its National Legal Director David Cole.

The organization noted five “basic guardrails” to ensure free speech and academic freedom on campus. But some of that guidance also highlight the challenge for college administrators. The second guardrail reads:

“They must protect students from targeted discriminatory harassment and violence, but may not penalize people for taking sides on the war in Gaza, even if expressed in deeply offensive terms.”

The letter also points to previous legal cases and historic moments where law enforcement used “inappropriate and excessive force in responding to protests.” And it warned protesters that “violence is never an acceptable protest tactic.”

Human Rights Watch statement: The advocacy group also mentioned the rights of protesters in a letter published Friday by the group’s UN Director Louis Charbonneau.

“As protests spread to campuses across the country, university administrations should be careful not to mislabel criticism of Israeli government policies or advocacy for Palestinian rights as inherently antisemitic or to misuse university authority to quash peaceful protest. Instead, universities should safeguard people’s rights to assembly and free expression,” Charbonneau wrote.

Columbia University officials from the Office of Public Affairs plan to hold a press briefing with reporters on the “ongoing campus situation,” according to a notice sent out Friday afternoon.

The university did not provide any further details on who will be addressing reporters. In recent days, Columbia administrators have been engaging in negotiations with students partaking in the pro-Palestinian encampments on campus. 

CNN will be covering the briefing. For updates following along here.

Emory University faculty gathered on campus to express concerns about the violent arrests that took place on campus Thursday, with tenured professors calling for the university’s president, Gregory Fenves, to step down over the decision to call in state and local police to clear out the protesters.

Around 200 members were present in person for the emergency meeting of the school’s College of Arts and Sciences faculty leaders, and another 200 attended on Zoom. The attendees overwhelmingly passed a motion that would call for a no-confidence vote for Fenves, urging him to step down.

Philosophy Professor Dilek Huseyinzadegan spoke to the crowd and said that a police officer pointed a “machine gun” at her head and she was threatened with arrest while she was trying to listen to a student give out the phone number to call her mother. 

Huseyinzadegan added that she “does not feel safe enough to return to campus for the rest of the year,” and may not return at all.

Noelle McAfee, the university’s Philosophy Department Chair, also spoke at the event and received a nearly minute-long ovation. McAfee was among those detained during Thursday’s protest calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. She was not charged and was released on the scene with a citation, she said.

McAfee told CNN she was at the scene to act as an unofficial observer of law enforcement officers when she was detained. 

 “This university has let down our students and I think the faculty is super motivated to express to our students our solidarity with them and to help them flourish as human beings in the world,” McAfee said. 

The motion will be sent to the entire Emory College of Arts and Sciences faculty next week, and they will all be able to vote electronically.

This post has been updated with additional information about the meeting.

The University of Texas at Austin has placed the Palestine Solidarity Committee on “interim suspension,” citing the “alleged violation of institutional rules,” according to Brian Davis, a spokesman for the university. 

“To be clear, the group is on interim suspension. Not the individuals. Length of suspension is determined by the Dean of Students office,” Davis said in a statement. 

The group, which organized Wednesday’s event that was met with a large police presence, posted a statement on Instagram Friday, calling the suspension “an attack on free speech to distract from and enable israel’s genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people!”

CNN is seeking clarity on what the interim suspension entails for the group. The PSC was planning to hold a vigil this coming Monday, but it’s unclear if that will continue. CNN has reached out to members of the group about the suspension. 

The university has stood by its decision to bring in law enforcement to prohibit the rally from moving forward on Wednesday, resulting in over 50 arrests and multiple clashes between police and students. The Office of the Dean of Students had also issued a letter to the PSC on Tuesday, warning that the event was not approved and the group would face disciplinary action, including suspension, if it proceeded. 

While the group used terminology like “occupy the lawn” in its promotional posts for Wednesday’s event, PSC members have told CNN they never intended to set up encampments on the lawn or stay overnight, and they had a schedule for the event that included study breaks and teach-ins. 

On Thursday, the university’s president, Jay Hartzell, released a statement saying the school tried to stop the event because “we had credible indications that the event’s organizers, whether national or local, were trying to follow the pattern we see elsewhere, using the apparatus of free speech and expression to severely disrupt a campus for a long period.”

Hartzell also noted that 26 of the 55 arrests were individuals with no affiliation to the university. 

Hartzell said the university has seen 13 pro-Palestinian events take place in recent months without incident, including another one that took place Thursday afternoon on campus.  

Two open letters are circulating among Yale faculty reacting to the university administration’s pro-Palestinian protests this week, according to the school’s student-run newspaper. The story was first reported by The Yale Daily News.

One from the Faculty for Justice in Palestine organization criticized student arrests this week and said that faculty are prepared to stage walkouts and boycott Yale’s graduation ceremonies “if the administration continues to meet students’ demands for disclosure and divestment with silence and punishment.”

The other letter denounced Yale’s administration for failing “in your responsibility to protect the Jewish students, staff and faculty at Yale.” The letter cites alleged examples of protesters intimidating and harassing Jewish students.

The two letters’ differing messages underscore the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the protests roiling college campuses across the US, not only for the students but also for academics and other staff.

Virginia Tech officials on Friday issued a statement about an encampment on campus, saying they told protesters the event does not comply with university policy.

“Earlier today, a small gathering of members of the university community and others not affiliated with Virginia Tech convened at the Graduate Life Center and placed tents on the lawn,” the university said in a statement. “This gathering was not a registered event consistent with university policy. University officials and Virginia Tech Police responded on site to explain the university’s facility use and event policy (University Policy 5000) and related public safety policies. The university will continue to act in accordance with its policies.”

The statement continued, “The safety and welfare of all members of the Virginia Tech community is the university’s primary responsibility while we remain unequivocally committed to upholding freedom of speech and academic freedom. This is expressed and upheld through our Principles of Community.”

Bipartisan legislation announced on Friday by New York lawmakers would empower the US Department of Education to appoint a third-party antisemitism monitor at colleges and universities that receive federal funding.

The bill, College Oversight and Legal Updates Mandating Bias Investigations and Accountability (COLUMBIA) Act, is sponsored by Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres and Republican Rep. Mike Lawler.

If passed and signed into law, colleges chosen would pay for the monitorship and could lose federal funds if they don’t comply, according to the lawmakers. The monitor would also have to release a report every quarter on efforts by the college or university to combat antisemitism and would issue recommendations.

“Rising antisemitism on our college campuses is a major concern and we must act to ensure the safety of students,” Lawler said in a statement. “If colleges will not step up to protect their students, Congress must act.”

Torres said he and his office have spoken with Jewish students who feel “deeply unsafe, purely as a result of their religious and ethnic identity.”

“This is a blatant violation of Title VI and the federal government cannot allow this to continue unchecked,” he said in a statement. “This past week’s crisis at Columbia is not an isolated incident – it is the straw that has broken the camel’s back – and I am prepared to do something about it.”

Adam Lehman, president and CEO of Hillel International said Friday the pro-Palestinian encampments at university campuses nationwide are “not an issue of free speech.”

“We’re talking about students who god-forbid show their Jewish identity publicly having a kippah or other aspects of their identity literally ripped from their bodies. This is beyond unacceptable,” Lehman said Friday at a joint press conference with Jewish student leaders and heads of other Jewish organizations held at Columbia University.

Lehman decried universities that aren’t enforcing policies that he said are meant to protect students from harassment. University presidents, however, have received considerable backlash over suppressing free speech for their efforts to disband encampments on campuses including, in some cases, authorizing police to make arrests.

Hillel as an organization supports the right to free speech, Lehman said, adding that “our students are desperate for dialogue.”

“But when the debate that’s taking place results in the intimidation and harassment and silence of one part of that community, there is not free speech for everyone,” he said.

Brian Cohen, executive director at Columbia and Barnard’s Hillel, echoed Lehman’s remarks at Friday’s press conference.

“Students have a right to protest. You have a right to say things that I and others strongly disagree with and even find deplorable,” Cohen said. “But protections are supposed to be in place to restrict when and where this activity can take place. They cannot occur 24 hours a day, seven days a week in locations where students live and learn.”

Dozens of police officers dressed in riot gear are outside one of the campus buildings at Sciences Po University in Paris on Friday, appearing to prepare to break up a pro-Palestinian blockade in the main campus building of the major French university.

Police are lined up with riot shields facing the students. Many students are sitting on the ground, waving Palestinian flags and chanting.

A total of 36 demonstrators at Ohio State University were arrested on Thursday night after refusing dispersal orders, according to a preliminary report from the university.

Of the 36 arrested, 20 were not affiliated with the university and 16 were students, according to university spokesperson Benjamin Johnson.

“Well-established university rules prohibit camping and overnight events,” Johnson said. “Demonstrators exercised their First Amendment rights for several hours and were then instructed to disperse. Individuals who refused to leave after multiple warnings were arrested and charged with criminal trespass.”

Students and faculty members of Emory University who were arrested on Thursday morning during a pro-Palestinian protest on the university’s campus will not have any release restrictions placed on them, according to DeKalb County Magistrate Court Judge E. Ann Guerrant. 

Guerrant made the ruling after Amy Adelman, Interim Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Emory University, appeared before the court and said the university did not want any restrictions for Emory faculty, staff and students. 

 “Faculty and students, there will be no restrictions per the victim’s request,” Guerrant announced. 

One of those making their first appearance on Friday was Emory University Economics professor Caroline Fohlin. She was one of two professors CNN witnessed being detained during a pro-Palestinian protest on the university’s campus Thursday morning. 

The attorney for Fohlin had advised the court that Emory University did not want any special conditions placed on her bond, shortly before Adelman joined the court proceedings via Zoom. 

According to her attorney, Fohlin is a tenured professor who has been with the university for 13 years. He said she is “situated differently” from the other defendants because she does not have a set schedule and is in and out of meetings every day. 

Fohlin was charged with disorderly conduct and simple battery against a police officer, according to DeKalb County Jail records. When asked if she understood the charges against her, she replied: “Basically.” 

The judge granted Fohlin a $50 cash bond with no special conditions for release. 

George Washington University said Friday that any student who remains in University Yard may be placed on temporary suspension and administratively barred from campus.

Earlier in the day, the university issued a statement saying the ongoing encampment on campus is against the university’s rules.

“The individuals who remain on University Yard and any who attempt to join them are trespassing on private property and violating university regulations,” a spokesperson said.

According to an Instagram post, the encampment, organized by students at multiple universities across the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia, represents the coalition of Students for Justice in Palestine.

“We are aware that individuals who are not GW students have joined the protest, and we have taken steps to restrict access to University Yard,” the statement read. “We will pursue disciplinary actions against the GW students involved in these unauthorized demonstrations that continue to disrupt university operations.”

DC Police have closed off the street where the protests had taken place. Some protesters relocated to a nearby parking spot, spilling out into the street. 

A verbal altercation about the war in Gaza erupted between a Jewish student from GW and some protesters on Friday morning.

New York Democratic Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman visited the encampments at Columbia University on Friday, student-run news outlet Bwog reported.

Ocasio-Cortez told the outlet, “Any leader who has called in enforcement and violence on folks that are peacefully organizing should be deeply ashamed of themselves. I would imagine a decision like that would follow a person for a very long time.”

Spokespeople for Ocasio-Cortez and Bowman didn’t immediately return requests for comment.

Their visits come after House Speaker Mike Johnson’s Wednesday visit to the campus, alongside a handful of other Republican lawmakers, where he called on the university’s president to resign “if she cannot immediately bring order to this chaos.”

The Travis County Attorney Delia Garza has dismissed all criminal charges against the protesters who were arrested on the University of Texas at Austin campus on Wednesday, according to spokeswoman Diana Melendez.

The county attorney’s office says 57 people were charged with criminal trespassing and that all the cases “lack sufficient probable cause to proceed.”

On Wednesday, Texas state troopers in riot gear, including some on horseback, broke up a group of pro-Palestinian protesters at the university, resulting in the arrests.

Amelia Kimball, an associate managing editor at The Daily Texan, described to CNN “tense interactions” and “physical struggles between police and students” on campus on Wednesday.

More than 75 students gathered Friday morning to set up an encampment at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, demanding the university divest from corporations that invest in Israel and its military operations, according to The Daily Tar Heel.

Students began arriving shortly after 10 am ET and quickly set up tents and banners expressing solidarity with Palestinians, the paper said. 

A previous protest encampment earlier in the week was reportedly shut down by UNC police.

CNN has reached out to UNC for comment.

More than 100 Israeli students at Columbia University wrote a letter to school officials this week pleading for protection from what they feel is an unsafe environment on campus.

“We urge you to heed our concerns and take immediate action to ensure our safety before it is too late. We fear for our lives,” the students wrote in the letter, a copy of which was shared with CNN.

The letter, sent Tuesday to Columbia president Minouche Shafik and board co-chairs David Greenwald and Claire Shipman, was signed by 134 Israeli students.

The names of the students were omitted from the copy shared with CNN due to concerns for the students’ safety.

“We are afraid to attend classes, feel threatened on campus and fear that some faculty and staff may subject us to discriminatory treatment,” the students wrote to Columbia officials. “Since October 7th, our campus has transformed into a hostile place; over the past few days, it has become an environment we dread.”

The Israeli students at Columbia urged Shafik and university officials to “take prompt measures to halt all forms of student violence, be it physical or verbal” and asked for insight into the next steps that will be taken.

One of the students, who requested anonymity over safety concerns, told CNN that the group had not heard a response from Columbia officials.

A Columbia spokesperson confirmed to CNN that Shafik’s office received the letter from Israeli students.

“The concerns raised are important. As President Shafik has said repeatedly, the safety of our community is our number one priority,” the Columbia spokesperson said in a statement.

“Columbia students have the right to protest, but they are not allowed to disrupt campus life or harass and intimidate fellow students and members of our community. We are acting on concerns we are hearing from our Jewish students and are providing additional support and resources to ensure that our community remains safe.” 

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00:56 - Source: cnn

A Columbia student who has spoken on behalf of pro-Palestinian protesters has apologized for saying on video that “Zionists don’t deserve to live.” 

Khymani James, a student activist associated with the Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) coalition acknowledged the statement in a post on X, saying it was from an Instagram Live video in January. “I misspoke in the heat of the moment, for which I apologize.” 

The apology came early Friday morning, hours after an interview with CNN at Columbia where James repeatedly declined to apologize for the video, saying that the focus should be on Palestinian liberation. 

The video of the comments, which was posted by a pro-Israel group, circulated on social media in recent days, prompting online outrage. 

The portion of the video that has been reposted online shows James saying, “Zionists – they don’t deserve to live comfortably, let alone Zionists don’t deserve to live. The same way we’re very comfortable accepting that Nazis don’t deserve to live, racists don’t deserve to live – Zionists, they shouldn’t live in this world.” 

CNN reached out for comment Thursday to the organization that posted the video and to request a copy of the full Instagram post, and did not receive a response. 

In the new statement, James says, “Far-right agitators went through months of my social media feed until they found a clip that they edited without context,” but added that CUAD and the Gaza Solidarity Encampment, another group of protesters at Columbia, “have made clear that my words in January, prior to my involvement with CUAD, are not in line with the CUAD community guidelines.” 

In a statement, CUAD said, “Khymani’s words in January do not reflect his views, our values, nor the encampment’s community agreements. We believe in the sanctity of all life, and believe our work is in changing minds and hearts.” CNN asked CUAD what position James has in the organization, and a spokesperson responded, “like most participants in the protest, he has no formal or elected role.” 

Asked about whether Columbia had fielded concerns about the video remarks, a spokesperson for the school told CNN, “While we do not comment on individual cases, when there are violations of student conduct policies, they are reviewed and disciplinary measures are applied.” 

CNN’s Miguel Marquez contributed to this report.

Students are holding pro-Palestinian demonstrations in two UK cities on Friday as the university protest movement spreads overseas.

Students gathered outside the University College London (UCL) to protest against the school’s ties to Israeli academic institutions. 

Video showed a crowd outside the main campus on Gower Street, central London, carrying pro-Palestinian placards. 

The protest was organized by UCL Action For Palestine, an activist group at the prestigious university. During a Sky News interview Thursday, the group’s spokesperson Amna Ghaffar claimed UK universities have taken more of a “silencing approach” to protests so far, compared to the US where several high-profile arrests of students and staff have taken place. 

Ghaffar said the campaign is focused on highlighting the university’s research partnerships with arms companies she said, “are directly responsible for supplying the Israeli military.” She criticized a recent partnership with Tel Aviv University, which she claimed has close ties to the Israeli military as well. 

University of Warwick students protested on Friday in the school’s “piazza.” The university said it was aware of an “ongoing demonstration” organized by “Warwick Stands With Palestine,” a coalition of student and staff organisations. 

The university posted on its X account that it was “speaking to the demonstration’s organisers,” reiterating that freedom of speech is a “vital component of university life.”

The “Warwick Stands With Palestine” group posted a photo of a tent encampment members set up in the courtyard overnight. The group said it wanted to “reclaim our campus for Gaza” after the university failed to heed demands. 

“We rise up in unison with fellow students all around the world from Columbia, NYC to Paris to Sydney,” the group said on Instagram. 

First appearance hearings in DeKalb County, Georgia, are expected this morning for those arrested during a campus protest at Emory University Thursday morning.

Most of those arrested were students or community members of the university, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. 

Caroline Fohlin, an economics professor, is the only professor currently in custody.

Some of those detained on Thursday were given citations and released, the source told CNN.

Other were charged with criminal trespass and disorderly conduct, the source said. “Those who were arrested have no significant prior criminal history.”

“Most of them are students,” the source added. 

Those making their first appearance on Friday will likely get an Unsecured Judicial Release with some special conditions, according to the source.

“Typically, when people are released on criminal trespass they can’t go back to the scene where they were arrested. We worked really hard last night to make sure they will be able to return to school and teach class.”

The encampment at Columbia University remained peaceful and quiet overnight.

Several student protest leaders spoke and provided updates on their negotiations with university leadership. They said offers from school administrators still fall short regarding divesting and amnesty for students and professors, who have been punished for their involvement in the protest.

One student leader told the group that their representatives are “negotiating content of a statement from the president acknowledging wrongdoing committed against students protesting.” He went into some detail on the specifics, mentioning the use of the NYPD to clear out the first on-campus encampment.

More than 100 people were arrested by the NYPD on suspicion of criminal trespass during a pro-Palestinian demonstration on Columbia’s campus last week.

Many students told CNN they believe the school’s refusal to budge on their divestment demands is what is delaying the process. They were also adamant that all students and professors get complete amnesty without making a promise to never protest on school grounds again — something they say was proposed by the school and rejected by student negotiators.

 CNN has reached out to Columbia University for comment.

The heads of Israel’s public universities have expressed “deep concern” over what they called a “recent surge of severe violence, antisemitism, and anti-Israel sentiment” at universities across the United States.

“Violent demonstrations” have led to a climate in which Jewish and Israeli students felt threatened, the Association of University Heads, Israel (VERA) said in a statement Friday.

Israeli and Jewish students and faculty members felt “compelled to hide their identities or avoid campuses altogether for fear of physical harm” due to the “disturbing events,” the university presidents said.

VERA said that freedom of expression and the right to demonstrate were “vital to the health of any democracy” and “crucial in academic settings.”

But, the university heads said, “These freedoms do not include the right to engage in violence, make threats against communities, or call for the destruction of the State of Israel.”

They added that they would assist Jewish and Israeli students who wished to join Israeli universities and “find a welcoming academic and personal home.”

While the protests and some protesters’ social media posts have made some Jewish students feel unsafe, CNN reporting has found protesters acting in an unobtrusive, nonviolent manner in the vast majority of protests.

A Jewish student at the University of California, Santa Barbara said she felt uncomfortable going on campus Thursday amid a protest that had formed at her school. 

In a phone interview with CNN, Tessa Veksler, who is the student body president at UCSB, described a protest that has taken over the student resource building at the university. 

“They’ve just taken over one building and they’re doing it indoors,” she said. 

Veksler said there are lectures given at the encampment, food being passed out and chants that mirror what is being said at other universities. 

“It’s not necessarily even a concern about what they’re discussing, and I’ve already heard of the antisemitic things that are going down,” she said. “But it’s about the fact that it’s a university property and that students are being denied access because they’re not able to be in that space and the fact that there are students that have to stay away from the whole area.”

Veksler lives off campus and did not go to the university Thursday because she said she is fearful and uncomfortable. She explained that fellow students and administrators have described the situation on campus to her. 

“I asked the administration what they’re going to do about it and they did not respond to me,” she said. “It’s not only being tolerated, I believe it’s being endorsed by, by those higher up, I believe that we’ve had so many opportunities to create clear boundaries and we haven’t done that.”

Veksler said that since October 7, she’s been “getting personally targeted and harassed.” She added that she recently defeated impeachment efforts and indicated that she is not backing down.

CNN has reached out to the university for comment on the protest.

The nuance and history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains difficult to capture succinctly, particularly during escalating turmoil among groups with deep-held — and entrenched — views on the issue.

Students inside campus encampments that have spread across the United States over the past week are from a variety of backgrounds — including Palestinians, Arabs, Jews and Muslims, joined by students of other religious and ethnic backgrounds. They hold a spectrum of political and social views too: liberal and heterodox, progressive and absolutist. Many have been motivated by the reports and video coming out of Gaza that is often unbearable to watch. Many of these students see the actions of the Israeli military in Gaza as a continuation of a more than 70-year-long oppression of Palestinian rights, land and culture. Protesters say they want their schools to stand against what they believe is genocide in Gaza.

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Dozens of students are currently carrying out a pro-Palestinian blockade in the main campus building of major French university Sciences Po in central Paris.

A CNN team on the ground saw students chanting pro-Palestinian slogans from the windows of the building on Rue Saint Guillame. Students have also erected a barricade blocking access to the street, which lies off the famous Boulevard Saint German in Paris’ Left Bank. 

CNN video showed students carrying placards calling for an end to “genocide” in Gaza and the boycott of Israeli universities. The group of students could be heard chanting slogans such as “Free Palestine.”

Earlier this week, Paris police removed over 100 students who had camped out in one of the campus courtyards as part of their efforts to protest. 

Sciences Po is one of France’s most highly ranked universities and the alma mater of a slew of French presidents, including Emmanuel Macron. 

The university has strong ties to Columbia University in New York, where students have been staging widespread pro-Palestinian protests. The two universities offer a dual BA program that affords students the opportunity to study in both institutions. 

One student named Hicham told CNN that there is “a link” between the Paris protests and those being staged in Columbia. 

“It reminds us of 1968 where anti war movements were growing in the United States and also in France…Seeing some friends and comrades doing this in Columbia University and all around the US and now in Australia also motivated us to continue the fight that we have been doing since October.”

A University of Southern California journalism professor says he no longer trusts key university leaders Provost Andrew Guzman and President Carol Folt following a series of decisions related to campus demonstrations. 

“Lest you mistake silence for approval, I want you to hear that you are failing the University,” Mike Ananny, PhD, an associate professor of communications and journalism at the University of Southern California wrote in an open letter that appears in the student publication Daily Trojan. 

Ananny began with the recent decision to cancel the valedictorian commencement speech from Asna Tabassum, by citing safety concerns, as CNN has previously reported. 

“You failed to invest in her address the same resources that the University has allocated to other challenging security contexts,” the letter said.

The university has since canceled its main stage commencement ceremony, the school announced in an update Thursday. 

Tensions have risen at the university with the presence of both protesters and the Los Angeles Police Department on campus, and nearly 100 people have been arrested on suspicion of trespassing, CNN has reported. 

In his letter, Ananny addressed these developments, in part by saying: “You allowed — and encouraged — the campus to become a dangerous, militarized space. Your actions failed to secure student safety; they endangered student safety. Again, your judgment failed, and I do not trust it.”

Ananny, who said he is a tenured faculty member, went on to write that he is “embarrassed” by the communication, judgment and leadership of the provost and president.

“I have no confidence in your ability to repair the deep damage you have done to this institution,” the letter said.

A central demand of protesters on college campuses across the nation is that universities divest from Israel-linked companies that are profiting from the war in Gaza.

“Disclose, divest, we will not stop we will not rest,” students at Columbia University chanted on Wednesday as Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson addressed them.

Other common threads include demanding universities disclose their investments, support a ceasefire in Gaza, and sever academic ties with Israeli universities.

“We are not going anywhere until our demands are met,” Khymani James, a student at Columbia University, said Wednesday.

At Princeton University, protesters are demanding the school end research on weapons of war “used to enable genocide,” according to a flyer at a demonstration.

At Columbia University, where the movement started last week, protesters want the university to sever ties with its center in Tel Aviv and a dual degree program with Tel Aviv University. New York University protesters also use the school’s Tel Aviv center as a rallying cry.

Amid hundreds of arrests at universities across the US, some call for officials to protect free speech and spare students from being punished for participating in the protests.

At the University of Southern California, protesters are demanding “full amnesty” for those brought into custody and “no policing on campus.”

Columbia protesters called for the university to “disclose and sever all ties” with the New York Police Department and ask that the university support low-income Harlem residents, according to Columbia University Apartheid Divest.

Student protesters say the demands to disclose and to divest are interconnected.

Protesters argue that many of the financial interests of universities are opaque and the links to Israel may be even greater than officials realize.

“We demand full financial transparency,” graduate student Basil Rodriguez told CNN Wednesday.

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US protests over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza are growing in number and intensity, most notably on college campuses, where protesters have decried the stance of “Genocide Joe.” 

And this week’s rapid spread of college campus encampments has ratcheted up the pressure on the US over its support for Israel. 

But where the domestic politics of the situation are concerned, the president and his administration remain unbowed.

Despite being just miles from Columbia and the most tense scenes of the protests, Biden will not be making a visit to campus as he holds events in the New York area Friday. Aides never seriously considered a visit by the president to campus, acknowledging the security situation and political calculus presented challenges too steep.

Biden, for months, has taken the pro-Palestinian demonstrations in stride – including at many of his public events – and advisers say there’s no plan to change course.

A lifelong politician, Biden understands there will always be some people who disagree with him, and those people have a right to voice their discontent.

Some senior advisers to the president — closely monitoring the growing unrest — are making the case that the protestors comprise a very small percentage of the student body and do not represent the majority’s views.

But the optics of the situation remain challenging for Biden, who this week signed into law an aid package granting $16 billion in additional military funding for Israel as the protests raged on. 

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A wave of pro-Palestinian campus protests is rippling across the US, with hundreds of people arrested at universities throughout the country this week.

At New York’s Columbia University, the epicenter of the demonstrations, protesting students said they won’t disperse until the school agrees to cut ties with Israeli academic institutions and disinvest its funds from entities connected to Israel, among other demands. Protesters at other campuses have similar demands.

The campus encampments spreading across the nation have brought together students from a variety of backgrounds — including Palestinians, Arabs, Jews and Muslims — to decry Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.

Here are the latest developments:

Columbia University: The faculty senate is expected to vote on a resolution admonishing the school’s president, Minouche Shafik, on Friday over several of her decisions, according to The New York Times. Shafik has faced criticism for authorizing police to shut down student protests on campus.

University of Southern California: The university canceled its main commencement ceremony next month, citing “new safety measures in place.” Nearly 100 people have been arrested on the campus.

Emory University: 28 people were arrested, including 20 Emory community members, during a protest at the school, Vice President for Public Safety Cheryl Elliott said. Troopers deployed pepper balls “to control the unruly crowd” during the protest, Georgie State Patrol said. A group of Democratic Georgia state lawmakers condemned the “excessive force used by Georgia State Patrol” during arrests at Emory.

Brown University: The university identified about 130 students who it alleges violated a school conduct code that forbids encampments on campus. Students found responsible will be disciplined depending on their behavior and other factors, including any prior conduct violations, the university said.

Emerson College: More than 100 people were arrested and four police officers injured during an encampment clearing at the Boston liberal arts college, according to the Boston Police Department. President Jay Bernhardt said he recognized and respected “the civic activism and passion that sparked the protest” after dozens of arrests.

Indiana University: 33 people were detained on campus following encampment protests.

George Washington University: DC Metropolitan Police were asked to assist in relocating an “unauthorized protest encampment” on campus, university president Ellen M. Granberg said. The decision came “after multiple instructions made by GWPD to relocate to an alternative demonstration site on campus went unheeded by encampment participants,” she said.

University of California, Los Angeles: A “demonstration with encampments” formed at UCLA on Thursday.

Northeastern University: An encampment formed at Northeastern University in Boston, where dozens of protesters were seen forming a human chain around several tents. 

Other campuses: Since last Thursday, there have been protests at several campuses, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Texas at Austin, University of Michigan, University of New Mexico, University of California, Berkeley, Yale University, Harvard University, Princeton University and the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus.

Negotiations between Columbia University administrators and pro-Palestinian protesters who’ve been occupying a campus lawn with a sprawling encampment “have shown progress and are continuing as planned,” the school said in a statement late Thursday.

“For several days, a small group of faculty, administrators, and University Senators have been in dialogue with student organizers to discuss the basis for dismantling the encampment, dispersing, and following University policies going forward,” the university said.

“We have our demands; they have theirs.”

The university also denied rumors that the NYPD had been called to campus, calling them “false.”

Some context: Columbia announced late Tuesday that it had given protesters a midnight deadline to agree to dismantle their encampment. But the university then said early Wednesday that it had extended the talks for another 48 hours. If no agreement is reached, the school has said it will consider “alternative options,” which many protesters have interpreted to mean calling in police to clear the site.

Protesters briefly clashed with police at Emory University in Georgia on Thursday, the university told CNN.

A confrontation between protesters and police outside the school’s Candler School of Theology prompted an “increased law enforcement presence” on campus, according to the university.

“A group of about 100 people left the Quad and marched to the Candler School of Theology, where some protesters pinned police officers against building doors and attempted to access the building,” the university said.

“The crowd ultimately returned to the Quad before dispersing.”

Video from CNN affiliate WSB shows some protesters using large posters to push into a line of police officers whose backs are against the doors of the building. As officers push back against the posters, one demonstrator chucks their sign at the row of officers.

Hours earlier, 28 people were arrested, including 20 Emory community members, according to Vice President for Public Safety Cheryl Elliott.

A CNN crew witnessed at least two professors detained by Atlanta police.

Elliott said that multiple dispersal orders were issued to the encampment telling them to leave because they were trespassing.  

Georgia State Patrol said they deployed a taser on one individual who actively resisted arrest when protesters were throwing bottles at officers and refusing to disperse. Elliott said that person was not a member of the Emory community. 

“During the encampment protest response, Troopers deployed pepper balls to control the unruly crowd but did not use tear gas,” Georgia State Patrol said.

Organizers of the demonstrations said the protesters will “continue the call for Emory University to completely divest from all programs enabling Israeli apartheid.”

They also called for “an end to the police’s brutality and the immediate release of all activists arrested.”

“Despite the violence authorized by the Emory President Greg Fenves and Dean of Campus Life Enku Gelaye, protestors continue their action on campus and call for the broader Atlanta community to join them,” the organizers said.

President Joe Biden will be in New York City on Friday, but White House and campaign officials said there have been no internal discussions about him visiting Columbia University.

Some demonstrators say the Biden administration is complicit in the deaths of the many thousands of civilians in Gaza.

Groups of senior White House officials have traveled to cities with large Muslim and Arab populations in recent weeks to meet with local community leaders and hear their concerns — gatherings that have at times prompted calls for boycotts.

White House spokesman Andrew Bates said Tuesday that the White House was monitoring “closely” the protests on college campuses and that Biden takes seriously the conversations he has had with community leaders about the current “painful moment.”

Colleges across the country have erupted with pro-Palestinian protests, and school administrators are trying — and largely failing — to defuse the situation.

Several schools have called the police on protesters, leading to the arrests of hundreds across US campuses.

The recent surge in protests have inflamed tensions among students, forcing leadership to decide when free speech on campus crosses a line. The atmosphere was so charged that officials at Columbia – the epicenter of the protests that began last week – announced students can attend classes virtually starting Monday.

Passover, a major Jewish holiday, began this week, heightening fears among a number of Jewish students who have reported hearing antisemitic comments at some of the protests. The anxiety comes as reports of antisemitic acts have surged across America since October 7.

When did the protests start?

The situation escalated last week at Columbia University, where encampments were organized by Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a student-led coalition of more than 100 organizations, including Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, to protest what they describe as the university’s “continued financial investment in corporations that profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide, and military occupation of Palestine,” according to its news release.

What are they asking for?

Columbia protesters say they won’t disperse until the school commits to a “complete divestment” of its funds from entities connected to Israel.

Other protesters are similarly calling on their campuses to divest from companies that sell weapons, construction equipment, technology services and other items to Israel.

Where else are protests happening?

Since last Thursday, there have been protests at several campuses, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Texas at Austin, University of Michigan, University of New Mexico, University of California, Berkeley, Yale University, Harvard University, Princeton University and the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus.

Read more here.

Columbia University’s faculty senate is expected to vote Friday on a resolution admonishing embattled school president Minouche Shafik over several of her recent decisions, including calling in police to clear a student encampment last week, the New York Times reports.

The resolution would allow the school senate to avoid a censure vote during a critical time for the school, the Times reports, citing several unnamed senators who attended a closed-door meeting Wednesday. Some feared a censure vote would be perceived as giving in to Republican lawmakers, according to the paper.

A Columbia University spokesperson confirmed Shafik’s closed-door meeting with the senate on Wednesday but would not comment on the resolution to CNN.

 “The President met with the Senate plenary in a closed-door session for close to an hour, giving remarks and taking questions. She reiterated the shared goal of restoring calm to campus so everyone can pursue their educational activities.” 

Some context: Shafik has faced immense criticism from some students, faculty and Democratic lawmakers for her decision to authorize police to break up pro-Palestinian student protests last week— a move that resulted in more than 100 arrests.

Other students, Jewish advocacy groups and Republican lawmakers are slamming Shafik for not cracking down on protests — which they say have included antisemitic rhetoric — both on campus and outside its gates.

Several Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, have called for Shafik to resign.

CNN’s Maria Sole Campinoti contributed to this report.

Brown University has identified about 130 students who it alleges violated a school conduct code that forbids encampments on campus, a university spokesperson said.

The university’s Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards has notified the students, who were identified through ID checks, spokesperson Brian Clark said in a release.

An encampment of about 90 people had formed on the school’s Providence, Rhode Island campus Wednesday morning, according to Brown.

“Encampment on Brown University’s historic and residential greens is a violation of University policy, and participants in the encampment have been verbally informed of this fact and that they will face conduct proceedings,” the school’s release said.

Students found responsible will be disciplined depending on their behavior and other factors, including any prior conduct violations, the university said, noting students could face probation or separation from the school.

At least 33 people were detained on Indiana University’s campus Thursday following encampment protests.

The Indiana University Police and Indiana State Police said they warned the individuals protesting “numerous times” to remove their structures and they would be allowed to stay.

“Following their refusal to comply with university policy, the group was advised to leave the area,” the Indiana University Police Department said.

Officers gave a final warning at 3:46 p.m., and at 3:57 p.m., individuals who refused were detained and removed from the area.

Thirty-three people were taken to the Monroe County Justice Center and police continue to monitor ongoing activity on campus.

“Indiana University Bloomington is a campus where we encourage and respect free speech and open dialogue,” a university spokesperson said in a statement.

“To ensure the safety and security of the IU community and to avoid disruption of university operations, expressive activity must be conducted in accordance with university free speech and events policies. This includes the enforcement of policies that require advanced approval for the installation of temporary structures.”

A State Department spokesperson said Thursday that the Biden administration supports the right to protest peacefully.

“We, of course, support the right of anybody to peacefully protest, to demonstrate, to make their voices heard, to express themselves in a peaceful and nonviolent way,” said State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel at a press briefing.

When asked if the protesters’ voices are reaching Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Patel said, “Absolutely.”

“But we’re also not naive to the fact that when it comes to any of the foreign policy that we pursue, 100% of the population is not going to agree with what we’re trying to accomplish,” said Patel.

Patel added that “harmful rhetoric, rhetoric whether it be rooted in antisemitism, Islamophobia, is incredibly problematic and needs to be condemned and called out.”

Sudents inside campus encampments that have spread across the US are from a variety of backgrounds — including Palestinians, Arabs, Jews and Muslims, joined by students of other religious and ethnic backgrounds.

They hold a spectrum of political and social views: liberal and heterodox, progressive and absolutist.

Some support Palestinians: Many have been motivated by the reports and video coming out of Gaza and see the actions of the Israeli military as a continuation of a more than 70-year-long oppression of Palestinian rights, land and culture.

Protesters say they want their schools to stand against what they believe is genocide in Gaza.

Some support Israel: As reports of antisemitism have surged to record levels since Hamas’ attack on October 7, many Jews feel Israel requires more support now than ever as a refuge for Jews, who have long been an oppressed minority.

Even if they oppose Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies and the country’s actions in Gaza, many Jews believe anti-Israel and anti-Zionist sentiment and even peaceful protest of Israel is itself antisemitic — because the concept of Israel as a Jewish homeland is core to Judaism.

And some support the Israeli government’s efforts to crush Hamas in Gaza.

George Washington University president Ellen M. Granberg on Thursday said DC Metropolitan Police were asked to assist in relocating an “unauthorized protest encampment” on campus.

“The encampment, unlike some demonstrations in the past, is an unauthorized use of university space at this location and violated several university policies,” Granberg said in a statement. “The decision to request MPD assistance came after multiple instructions made by GWPD to relocate to an alternative demonstration site on campus went unheeded by encampment participants.”

She said the school will allow George Washington University students “an appropriate place for their protest within the defined limits of free expression” at the school but will not allow students from “other local colleges or unaffiliated individuals to trespass on our campus.”

“We can and will enforce the time, place, and manner restrictions that continue to govern activities on our campus,” she said. 

Granberg also said they will insist that protesters “meet their responsibility to university policies that prohibit the disruption of the normal academic activities of our community – the vast majority of whom are not protesting.”

“Occupying campus grounds, establishing outdoor encampments, and blocking access to buildings create safety concerns and can disrupt learning and study, especially during this critical final exam period,” she said.

Te University of Southern California canceled its main commencement ceremony for 2024 graduating students in May, citing “new safety measures in place.”

“We understand that this is disappointing,” the university said in an announcement on its website.

The announcement came days after the university canceled the commencement speech of its Muslim valedictorian, Asna Tabassum, due to what it called security concerns. USC then canceled appearances by prominent speakers and honorees at the May 10 graduation ceremony.

USC’s commencement weekend is scheduled for May 8-11. Its main stage ceremony traditionally brought all 65,000 students and their families together. The university said it would host “new activities and celebrations” to ensure the weekend would still be “meaningful, memorable and uniquely USC.”

Many students in the class of 2024 graduated high school in 2020, meaning they may also have missed out on graduation ceremonies due to Covid-19.

Palestine Legal filed a civil rights complaint against Columbia University this week through the US Department of Education, demanding the agency’s Office for Civil Rights investigate the school’s treatment of Palestinian students and allies.

The complaint goes beyond the events of the last week, when NYPD arrested more than 100 protesting students.

It alleged that for the past months, “Palestinian students, Arabs, Muslims, students perceived to be Palestinian, and students associated with or advocating for Palestinians” were subject to anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian harassment and Islamophobia.

The complaint represents four students and Columbia’s Students for Justice in Palestine. Palestine Legal said these students received death threats and were “harassed for wearing keffiyehs or hijab, doxed, stereotyped, being treated differently by high-ranking administrators including Columbia University President Minouche Shafik.”

Palestine Legal also said the school has the responsibility to protect its students, including Palestinians and supporters, and should not threaten or call the police or military. Columbia has denied threats to call the National Guard were ever on the table in negotiations with protesters.

“Since October 7th alone, the organization has received reports of over 1,800 incidents, over five times the number we received in all of 2022, reflecting an exponential rise in anti-Palestinian repression across the US,” Palestine Legal said in a press release.

A group of Democratic Georgia state lawmakers on Thursday condemned the “excessive force used by Georgia State Patrol” during arrests at Emory University.

“The use of extreme anti-riot tactics by Georgia State Patrol, including tasers and gas, is a dangerous escalation to protests which were by all accounts peaceful and nonviolent,” according to the statement posted on social media by Georgia state Rep. Ruwa Romman, a Democrat who is also Palestinian.

The group blamed Georgia leaders and said they have created an environment where “state police feel free or perhaps are directed— to respond to normal peaceful protests with violence.”

“We cannot allow this dangerous repression to continue. Regardless of one’s views on this or any other issue, there is no justification for this kind of excessive force,” they continued in the statement. “We call on all state officials to immediately deescalate and prevent further harm to our constituents.”

The ACLU of Georgia also said on Thursday it was concerned about law enforcement’s response to the protests.

“The freedom to protest without retribution is essential to our democracy. Atlanta has historically been a place where citizens could freely exercise their rights to protest, but we have unfortunately seen a series of unconstitutional crackdowns on speech and protest across Georgia in recent years,” the organization said in a statement.

“Colleges and universities should be places where viewpoints, expression, debate, and free speech are encouraged, not suppressed.”

When Minouche Shafik was announced as Columbia University’s president last year, she was called the “perfect candidate” by the chair of Columbia’s Board of Trustees.

Now, some of her own students and professors, as well as the speaker of the House of Representatives, are calling on her to resign.

Just over nine months into her tenure, Shafik is under pressure for her handling of Columbia campus protests over the war between Israel and Hamas.

College administrators have been under intense scrutiny in the wake of the war in Gaza. University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill and Harvard University president Claudine Gay both stepped down in the wake of pressure over their response to antisemitism on campus.

At Columbia, some students, faculty and left-leaning lawmakers are enraged that Shafik authorized the New York Police Department to shut down student protests on campus that have been urging the university to cut off its economic and academic ties to Israel. They say the crackdown on student protests, which resulted in more than 100 arrests, violated academic freedom.

Other students, religious groups and right-leaning lawmakers say the administration has failed to stop antisemitism inside Columbia’s campus and at protests outside its gates.

“These are incredibly difficult situations for a university president, especially someone who is not tested over time,” said James Finkelstein, a professor emeritus of public policy at George Mason University who studies the selection and employment of university presidents.

“She’s at serious risk of being able to survive this,” Finkelstein added.

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