The Columbia protester diet: Anti-Israel students munch on Pret sandwiches, pricey nuts and sip Dunkin’
Bellies are full, but the tantrums continue.
The anti-Israel Columbia University students hunkering down on the Ivy League’s West Lawn received a hefty food delivery Wednesday — as they show no signs of abandoning their makeshift tent city.
Fruits, nuts, granola bars and overpriced sandwiches were being handed out like candy to the protesters, who were given a 48-hour extension to camp out on the grounds before the administration warned it would clear them out.
The evening meal marked one week of the group’s headlining-making demonstration as similar ones have spread like wildfire to other elite campuses across the country.
The anti-Israel protesters — more than 100 of whom were cuffed by the NYPD last week — had their choice of an array of nuts, including a $17 jar of Good and Gather’s Sea Salt Roasted Mixed Nuts.
Cheaper options like Blue Diamond almonds and Planters cashews were also laid out for the students, who are used to shelling out $86,097 in tuition each year.
Sandwiches at the UK-brand convenience bakery Pret-A-Manger were neatly lined up along the table. A simple veggie sandwich would cost only $8, but those with any meat between the bread slices cost anywhere between $10 and $14, or even $16 for a salmon option.
The famished freedom fighters were also treated to $15 Kind granola bars and $10 rotisserie chickens, as well as Trader Joe’s peanut butter cups, croissants, muffins and more.
To keep caffeinated for their around-the-clock antics, protesters opted for the relatively cheap choice of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee. And for a sugar boost, a box of donuts was theirs for the taking.
They even munched on several bags of coconut macaroons from Strait’s — which bills the cookies as “Kosher for Passover and all year round.”
Who or what organization is behind the food delivery is a mystery, though Columbia’s administration restricted access to the campus to only “Columbia ID holders” and credentialed press members.
With their bellies full, the protesters showed no signs of abandoning their encampment, especially following embattled Columbia University president Minouche Shafik’s announcement that they could stay on the grounds for another 48 hours.
Shafik – who previously vowed to crack down on the protests and antisemitism on campus – initially set a midnight deadline on Wednesday for them to reach an agreement to clear out.
She caved to pressure from the students to continue dialogue for the next two days, until which time she warned the school would “have to consider alternative options for clearing the West Lawn and restoring calm to campus so that students can complete the term and graduate.”
Columbia had already called on the NYPD to dismantle the encampment once, resulting in 108 trespassing arrests — but the group popped back up on the grounds within 24 hours.
The Columbia division of Students for Justice in Palestine said just after the midnight deadline passed that they had left talks with the school “until there is a written commitment that the administration will not be unleashing the NYPD or the National Guard on its students.”
As of 4 a.m. Wednesday, the students claimed in a post on X that they had a written commitment from Columbia that the authorities would not be used to dismantle the protest, the statement added.
“Columbia’s reliance on the threat of state violence against peaceful protestors has created an unstable ground for the negotiations process which will continue over the next 48 hours. However, Columbia’s written commitment and concession not to call the NYPD or the National Guard signifies an important victory for students,” their statement said.
