- Columbia extends campus protest deadline amid negotiations progress
- Extension granted after initial deadline to dismantle tents passed
- University faces pressure amidst ongoing pro-Palestine demonstrations
Columbia University has granted two extensions to the deadline for students to vacate their campus encampments in opposition to Israel’s war on Gaza. The university justifies this action by stating that negotiations with the protesters have made progress, which is intended to defuse the tense impasse that has spread throughout universities in the United States.
“We are making significant progress with student encampment representatives on the West lawn,” Columbia said in a statement issued shortly after 3 a.m. (07:00 GMT) on Wednesday.
Students were previously instructed by the university to dismantle tents by midnight if negotiations failed to produce an agreement. That was initially extended until Wednesday at 8:00 a.m. (noon GMT).
Prematurely terminating negotiations to dismantle the encampments would require the university to “consider alternative options for clearing the area,” according to Columbia University President Nemat “Minouche” Shafik.
The university issued its most recent statement extending the deadline once more, this time until the wee hours of Friday morning, by 48 hours, and stating that student demonstrators had complied with four of the university’s most pressing demands.
However, a significant student organization that was actively involved in the pro-Palestinian demonstrations suggested that Columbia University had acquiesced to the demonstrators’ demands several hours later, on Wednesday.
This narrative conflict represents the most recent development in the pro-Palestine demonstrations that have erupted on college campuses throughout the United States in recent times.
Nevertheless, Columbia has emerged as an epicenter of the solidarity movement in light of the Gaza death toll, which has risen to over 34,000 since the conflict began on October 7. The majority of those slain have been women and children.
Further, these student-led demonstrations across the nation continue unabated despite arrests and suspensions.
What do student demonstrators have to say regarding the extension of the deadline?
Late Wednesday morning, the Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) coalition of student organizations, one of the primary organizers of the demonstrations, issued the following statement: “College’s written commitment and concession not to involve the NYPD or the National Guard represents a significant victory for students.”
CUAD issued a statement late at night claiming that the university had issued a “threat” to negotiators, threatening to involve the National Guard and police “if we do not comply with their demands.”
Overnight, what was the situation in Columbia?
A journalism student who has been covering the protests since their inception, Caroline Anne Bissonnette, said that students who had taken down tents re-erected them and primarily returned to the encampment once the deadline was extended to 8 a.m.
Protesters are requesting that the university divest its holdings from companies that profit from the ongoing conflict between Israel and Gaza, which surpassed two centuries on Tuesday. Further requirements encompass increased financial transparency regarding Columbia’s investments, as well as the termination of academic partnerships and collaborations with universities and programs in Israel. In addition, the protesters are demanding an absolute cessation of hostilities in Gaza.
Columbia University’s student radio station WKCR reported at approximately 1:35 a.m. (05:35 GMT) on Wednesday, citing sources off-campus and on campus, that fifty police officers from the force’s Strategic Response Group (SRG) were arranged in a queue at 116th Street in New York City, outside the university.
WKCR was informed by a student reporter that the police response was “more severe than we have ever seen before” and that SRG officers confronting demonstrators on the sidewalk were wearing face masks, helmets, and zip ties. As clarified by the radio station, there were no indications that law enforcement was assembling on campus.
According to WKCR, police had previously issued a warning to off-campus demonstrators regarding the risk of arrest if they utilized amplified sound. The demonstrations continued with the use of booming sounds, such as horns, drums, and chants.
The university made an announcement on Monday regarding the transition to a hybrid mode of instruction for the duration of the spring semester.
Columbia is currently confronted with an academic boycott in which over 1,400 academics from around the world have endorsed a letter stating they will not attend academic or cultural events at the university or its affiliate Barnard College until the reversal of suspensions of student protesters in recent days, the removal of police from campus, and the resignation of Shafik.
What are the demonstrators in Columbia saying?
Jewish Voice for Peace, CUAD, and Students for Justice in Palestine are the organizations organizing the movement.
CUAD issued the following statement on X on Tuesday: “Until there is a written commitment from the administration that they will not deploy the NYPD [New York Police Department] or the National Guard against its students,” they have terminated negotiations with the university.
It was reaffirmed that significant numbers of women and children, among other civilians, have perished in Gaza, and that each university within the besieged enclave has been devastated.
“We shall not yield to desperate threats and overt intimidation issued by the university administration.” “We will persist in our peaceful demonstrations,” it stated.
What is Columbia able to do?
Shafik informed the student body via email that the university would consider “alternative options” to clear the encampment if the negotiations between Columbia’s administration and the student organizers failed to result in “dismantling the encampment, dispersing, and adhering to university policies.”
“Additionally, I wish to emphasise that intimidating, harassing, or discriminatory conduct will not be tolerated at Columbia University.” She further stated, “While the right to protest is protected and fundamental, harassment and discrimination are contrary to our values and a breach of our dedication to being a community characterised by mutual respect and benevolence.”
On April 18, over a hundred pro-Palestinian demonstrators were apprehended on campus in connection with trespassing charges. Columbia and Barnard also suspended several students, including Isra Hirsi, the progeny of Democrat Ilhan Omar, a member of the United States House of Representatives.
Why are leaders of Congress paying a visit?
Wednesday marked Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson’s visit to Columbia, where he met with Jewish students. Additionally, Johnson conferred with Shafik, the president of the university.
“We advised her to act swiftly and eradicate this,” he stated on Wednesday afternoon at a news conference held at Columbia.
“Our impression is that they have not taken any action to restore order to the campus,” Johnson, who was applauded by a student body, continued.
On Monday, Republican and Democratic congressional delegations paid a visit to the university’s fortified campus to convey their apprehension regarding the safety and security of Jewish students.
