Hundreds of people gathered on Low Plaza Monday afternoon as Columbia University faculty delivered speeches in support of the student protesters who were suspended and arrested Thursday.
Faculty who spoke denounced university president Minouche Shafik’s decision to authorize the New York Police Department to remove protesters from campus and demanded all legal and disciplinary charges be dismissed and expunged from students' records.
Faculty held signs that read, “Hands off our students,” and “End student suspensions now.” Some faculty donned their academic regalia and wore sashes that read, “We support students.”
Speeches were met with cheers and claps from the crowd, as well as chants for Shafik to resign.
Christopher Brown, a professor of history, said, “I’m here because I am so concerned about what is happening at this university, with where we are now and with where we are going. Thursday April 18, 2024, will be remembered as a shameful day in Columbia history.”
“The president’s decision to send riot police to pick up peaceful protesters on our campus was unprecedented, unjustified, disproportionate, divisive and dangerous,” Brown said.
US Rep. Ilhan Omar, whose daughter Isra Hirsi was among the protesters arrested Thursday, posted on X that while she’s glad to see faculty demonstrate in solidarity with students, she wants the protests to focus on Gaza.
"On Thursday, Columbia arrested and suspended its students who were peacefully protesting and have now ignited a nationwide Gaza Solidarity movement. This is more than the students hoped for and I am glad to see this type of solidarity. But to be clear, this about the genocide in Gaza and the attention has to remain on that," Omar wrote.