As Students Return To Columbia, So Do Protests

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY – A protest is ongoing outside Columbia University as of Monday morning, police confirmed.

The protest was organized by Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine, and is taking place near 116th Street and Broadway.

There were divergent assessments of the scene on social media.

Deranged visit to my alma mater this morning as Barnard’s president Rosenbury sics the NYPD on @ColumbiaSJP picketers protesting suspensions, arresting one + kettling dozens of us, all in front of new students moving in. Who could feel safe on this repressive, copped-up campus? pic.twitter.com/JHRefsiUhp
— Aditi (@aditilrao) August 19, 2024

A summons for an audio device was issued, police said, but no arrests had been made as of 11:12 a.m. on Monday, contradicting posts on social media.

Barnard’s move-in day, according to its website, is actually Aug. 28.

Another Tumultuous School Year?

Columbia was rocked by the departure of president Minouche Shafik less than a week ago. Katrina Armstrong is now serving as the university’s interim president.

“We must recalibrate as a community,” Armstrong wrote, in a statement released on Friday, Aug. 16. “We must take care to bridge divides, find common ground, define our rules and their consequences, and reach understanding based on our shared values.”

With the first day of classes only a few weeks away and the conflict between Israel and Hamas showing no signs of abating, Columbia is preparing for another contentious school year.

The university effectively closed its Morningside Heights campus earlier this month, and only those with school IDs will be allowed inside. Any guests must be registered in advance. Columbia is also reportedly weighing granting campus security the power to arrest students.

Classes begin on Sept. 3.