Student protests over the Israel-Hamas war have popped up on an increasing number of college campuses following the arrest of more than 100 demonstrators at Columbia University.
The students are calling for universities to separate themselves from any companies that are advancing Israel’s military efforts in Gaza — and in some cases from Israel itself. Protests on many campuses have been orchestrated by coalitions of student groups. The groups largely act independently, though students say they are inspired by peers at other universities. Here is a look at the protests on campuses in recent days:
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
Pro-Palestinian student protesters set up a tent encampment at the Ivy League university in New York the week of April 15. Police first tried to clear the encampment on April 18, when they arrested more than 100 protesters. But the move backfired, inspiring students across the country and motivating protesters at Columbia to regroup.
At the Ivy League school, where April 29 is set to be the last day of classes, switched to hybrid learning. Commencement is set for May 15.
Columbia officials said that negotiations were showing progress as the school’s self-imposed deadline to reach an agreement on dismantling the encampment came and went. Nevertheless, two police buses were parked nearby and there was a noticeable presence of private security and police at entrances to the campus.
Columbia’s president, Minouche Shafik, faced a significant — but largely symbolic — rebuke from faculty on April 26 but retains the support of trustees, who have the power to hire or fire the president. Hundreds of counterprotesters gathered on the streets outside Columbia on April 26 morning, many holding Israeli flags and chanting for the hostages being held by Hamas and other militants to be released.
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
The University of Southern California has canceled its main stage graduation ceremony set for May 10 as its campus is roiled by protests. The university already canceled a commencement speech by the school’s pro-Palestinian valedictorian, citing safety concerns. The Los Angeles Police Department said more than 90 people were arrested on April 24 for alleged trespassing during a protest at the university. One person was arrested for alleged assault with a deadly weapon. There were no reports of injuries. The university said April 24 it had closed campus and police would arrest people who did not leave. April 26 was the last day of classes.
THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
Police clashed with protesters at Ohio State University in Columbus, just hours after they gathered on April 25. Those who refused to leave after warnings were arrested and charged with criminal trespass, said university spokesperson Benjamin Johnson, citing rules barring overnight events. Of 36 people arrested, Johnson said on April 25 that 15 were students and 20 were not affiliated with the university. The school’s commencement is set for May 5.
GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
About 50 students at George Washington University in Washington DC, set up a tent encampment on the school’s University Yard on April 25. A group of Georgetown University students and professors later staged their own protest walkout and marched to the George Washington campus to join the protesters there. The protestors are demanding that the university divest from all relations with Israel and lift a suspension against a prominent pro-Palestinian student group.
The university’s last day of classes before final exams is set for April 29 and commencement is scheduled for May 19. The university was moving law school finals, which were set to be held in a building next to the encampment, to another building because of the noise.
CALIFORNIA STATE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY, HUMBOLDT
University officials closed the campus through the weekend, saying instruction would continue to be remote, after protesters at the university in northern California used furniture, tents, chains and zip ties to block entrances to an academic and administrative building on April 29. The last day of classes is May 3 and commencement is set for May 11.
Officials said in a statement April 23 that students had occupied a second building and three students had been arrested. On April 24, officials said some unidentified people who were not students were also inside one of the occupied buildings. On April 25, the university said protesters continued to occupy the two buildings.
A dean at the school, Jeff Crane, suggested during the meeting that the university form a committee that would include students to do a deep dive into the school’s investments. Crane also suggested faculty and students continue meeting every 24 hours to keep an open line of communication. The sides have yet to announce an agreement.
The school’s senate of faculty and staff demanded the university’s president resign in a vote of no confidence on April 25, citing the decision to call police in to remove the barricaded students April 29.
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
At New York University, an encampment set up by students swelled to hundreds of protesters. Police on April 24 said that 133 protesters had been taken into custody. They said all were released with summonses to appear in court on disorderly conduct charges. Commencement is set for May 15.
EMORY UNIVERSITY
At Emory University in Atlanta, where Atlanta police and Georgia state troopers had dismantled a camp on the school’s quadrangle, the school president on April 26 said in an email that some of the videos of a clash between police and people on the campus “are shocking” and that he is “horrified that members of our community had to experience and witness such interactions.”
“Highly organized, outside protestors” arrived on campus in vans, constructed an encampment and overtook the quad on April 25, Emory President Gregory Fenves said in the email. However, 20 of the 28 people arrested are “Emory community members,” school officials said.
Video circulated widely on social media shows two women who identified themselves as professors being detained, with one of them slammed to the ground by one officer as a second officer then pushes her chest and face onto a concrete sidewalk. In a separate incident April 25, some protesters pinned police officers against the glass doors of the Candler School of Theology on the campus and threw objects at the officers, Emory’s president said.
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
Northwestern University changed its student code of conduct April 25 morning to bar tents on its suburban Chicago campus as student activists set up an encampment. Dozens participated as University President Michael Schill issued an email saying the university had enacted an “interim addendum” to its student code to bar tents, among other things, and warned of disciplinary actions including suspension, expulsion, and criminal charges. The university’s commencement is scheduled for June 9.
“The goal of this addendum is to balance the right to peacefully demonstrate with our goal to protect our community, to avoid disruptions to instruction and to ensure university operations can continue unabated,” Schilling said.
FASHION INSTITUTE of TECHNOLOGY
A few dozen protesters set up tents and occupied a building April 25 at the Fashion Institute of Technology, part of the public State University of New York system. Protesters sat on the floor or milled around, many wearing face masks and kaffiyehs. Other protesters outside the building held signs and Palestinian flags. They refused to speak to a reporter. Around a dozen protesters spent the night in tents and sleeping bags inside a campus building. The institute’s museum, which is located in the building where the demonstrators set up camp, was closed on April 26. The school’s commencement was still scheduled for May 22 and May 23.
INDIANA UNIVERSITY BLOOMINGTON
After an encampment was set up at Indiana University Bloomington, police with shields and batons shoved into a line of protesters linked arm in arm on April 25. Videos posted to social media appear to show the protest continuing after law enforcement stopped making arrests.
In an update on April 26, the university police said 34 people were arrested. Public information officer Hannah Skibba said charges include trespassing, resisting law enforcement and battery on a public safety official. One officer sustained “minor injuries.” Protests continued, one day before the last day of classes. The university’s commencement is scheduled for May 4.
Jeffrey Kehr, chief deputy prosecutor for Monroe County, said in an email that those arrested were released on their own recognizance and the office will “examine all the reports we receive and any relevant footage to determine what, if any, charges are appropriate.”
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
A small but growing encampment remained in place early April 26 on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. A statement issued by the school said officials were “closely monitoring” the encampment, which had started on April 25, and had not received any reports of threatening or violent behavior by the protestors. However, they warned that protests or speech that violates the university’s policies, disrupts its business, or causes an “intimidating, hostile, or violent environment” would not be tolerated. The school’s commencement is scheduled to take place between May 18 and 20.
BERNIE SANDERS SPEAKS OUT
The progressive senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders – who is Jewish, hit back at Benjamin Netanyahu on April 27 in a social media video. Israel’s ultra-extremist Prime Minister has openly criticized the Biden Administration for not stopping the pro-Gaza demonstrations on America’s college campuses.
Students have been critical of Netanyahu’s military policy that targeted Palestinian civilians, calling his campaign a genocide as thousands are killed in evacuation camps. Netanyahu has used October 7 Hamas to further his political ambitions, refusing to accept any responsibility for the attack by Hamas.
After Netanyahu referred to American students as “antisemitic mobs” that “have taken over leading universities,” Senator Sanders addressed the insults directly.
“No, Mr. Netanyahu, it is not antisemitic or pro-Hamas to point out that, in a little over six months, your extremist government has killed over 34,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 78,000, 70% of whom are women and children,” said Senator Sanders. “…Antisemitism is a vile and disgusting form of bigotry that has done unspeakable harm to many millions of people. But please, do not insult the intelligence of the American people by attempting to distract us from the immoral and illegal policies of your extremist and racist government. It is not antisemitic to hold you accountable for your actions.”
