Columbia suspends protesters after negotiations break down

NEW YORK — Columbia University officials began suspending students in an ongoing pro-Palestinian encampment Monday evening after offering them a reprieve if they left voluntarily earlier in the day.

The institution plans to bar them from campus as well as residential buildings if they do not exit the encampment, which has over 100 tents and student protesters. Suspended seniors will not be eligible to graduate.

“We have begun suspending students as part of this next phase of our efforts to ensure safety on our campus,” Columbia spokesperson Ben Chang told reporters during a Monday evening news briefing.

A Columbia spokesperson did not have exact numbers for students suspended.

Following an impasse in negotiations, university leaders began informing students in writing Monday morning that they will not face suspension and will be eligible to complete the semester in good standing if they disperse by 2 p.m.

The ultimatum was documented in a form school officials passed out to students in the tent encampment, which has become the hub of national unrest over the war in Gaza.

“We urge those in the encampment to voluntarily disperse,” Columbia President Minouche Shafik wrote Monday in a university-wide email. “We are consulting with a broader group in our community to explore alternative internal options to end this crisis as soon as possible.”

The school has “already identified many students in the encampment,” and they must pledge to follow university rules and identify themselves to a Columbia official by that time, according to the notice distributed at the encampment.

The notification comes on the last day of classes for Columbia and nearly two weeks ahead of the university’s commencement ceremony, which is typically held in the same space on campus where the protest is currently underway.

“We urge you to remove the encampment so that we do not deprive your fellow students, their families and friends of this momentous occasion,” the notice states, adding that the university will provide an alternative venue for protest following exams and commencement.

“If the encampment is not removed, we will need to initiate disciplinary procedures because of a number of violations of university policies,” the papers add. “These are policies you agreed to adhere to when you joined our community.”

As of noon Monday, dozens of students and over 100 tents remained in the encampment as a handful of university officials stood outside. Organizers urged demonstrators to do what was best for their personal circumstances, including concerns that international students could lose their academic visas, but emphasized “we will not be leaving.”

When asked “all in favor” of remaining in the encampment, hands flew up in what appeared to be unanimous agreement.

“We will not move until Columbia meets our demands or we are moved by force,” Columbia University Apartheid Divest, the group behind the demonstration, said in a news release.

The university has no plans to divest from Israel — student protesters’ top demand — but offered to accelerate the timeline for the review of new proposals from students by a committee that weighs divestment matters, Shafik wrote.

Shafik also wrote that university negotiators suggested making investments in health and education in Gaza, including support for early childhood development and displaced scholars. And she said protests can continue on campus “by application with two days’ notice” in approved locations. She also denounced antisemitic language and actions.

Student demonstrators have occupied the Columbia lawns since April 17, refusing to leave unless Columbia divests from Israel, discloses its investments and provides amnesty to all participants in the demonstration. The next day, Shafik authorized the New York Police Department to enter campus and arrest over 100 students.

In days since, dozens of other encampments have sprouted up on college campuses nationwide and hundreds of student protesters have been arrested.

Mayor Eric Adams on Monday said City Hall and the NYPD have been communicating with presidents of higher education facilities in the city, including New York University and the Fashion Institute of Technology. Universities , he maintained, have been collaborative as the parties seek to strike a balance between honoring the right to protest but ensuring it’s done “in a peaceful manner.”

“Protesting for peace should not call for the destruction of any other groups,” Adams said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

He also said Columbia and other schools want the NYPD to be “at the entry points where they're finding a large number of people who are on the grounds, don't attend the schools at all.”