Columbia University President Requests NYPD Assistance to Remove Protesters from Campus

NEW YORK – The president of Columbia University on Thursday asked the New York Police Department to remove a group of protesters from the South Lawn of Morningside Heights campus, saying that their action is disturbing and dangerous to the university and the community.

Activists set up camp Wednesday morning on the South Lawn, ahead of Columbia University President Minouche Shafik’s testimony before Congress about anti-Semitism on campus following the Sept. 7 Hamas attack on Israel. A day later, Shafik reported to the police that there was a problem with his continued attendance.

More than 100 people lived on the South Lawn when Shafik sent the letter on Thursday. He said that they noticed written and verbal warnings again, starting on Wednesday, that they were in violation of university rules and that they should disperse. Shafik also said that all the university students participating in the camp were suspended and therefore trespassing on the school premises by constantly refusing to leave the grass.

“I have determined that the encampment and related disturbances are a clear threat and a threat to the substantive operations of the University,” Shafik wrote. “It is with a heavy heart that we request the assistance of the NYPD to arrest these individuals to remove. We understand that the first step in this process is for the NYPD to use their LRAD technology to tell the camp participants to disperse.” and give them time to leave before taking any action. another.”

“We hope that you will be careful and cautious in removing people from our campus,” he continued. “The safety of our community is our highest priority. We appreciate your commitment to help us peacefully and respectfully through this difficult time.”

Shafik also said that the administration had intervened in the issues raised by the group and offered more discussion, pending the dispersal of the crowd.

“Columbia is committed to allowing members of our community to participate in political expression, within established rules and with respect for everyone’s safety,” he said. about protests in place to support both the right to expression and the safety and operations of our University.”

Specific numbers on student suspensions and arrests were not immediately clear Thursday afternoon.

About 24 hours earlier, Shafik took a tough stand against anti-Semitism by deflecting accusations from Republicans that the Columbia campus is a hotbed of bigotry, but she was evasive about whether specific phrases which some Palestinian supporters put in place causing outrage.

He arrived on Capitol Hill four months after a similar hearing led to the resignation of two Ivy League presidents.

From the beginning, Shafik took a more assertive stance than the presidents of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, who gave legal answers when asked if calls for the genocide of the Jews would violate school policies.

When asked the same question, Shafik and three other Columbia directors answered clearly yes. But Shafik hesitated on certain expressions.

Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., asked if phrases like “from the river to the sea, free Palestine” or “long live the intifada” were anti-Semitic.

“I hear them that way, some people don’t,” Shafik said.

McClain asked David Schizer, who heads a task force on anti-Semitism at Columbia, the same question. He replied that these expressions are anti-Semitic.

It was a terrible moment for the president of the Ivy League to eliminate the moments of gimmickry that turned the earlier hearing into a real fear for Republicans, who showed elite schools as anti-Semitic places. Shafik seemed to be prepared and handled issues very differently from other school principals.

Shafik acknowledged an increase in anti-Semitism since October, but said university leaders have been working hard to protect students. Rejecting allegations that he has been soft on violators, Shafik said 15 students have been suspended and six are on probation for violating new rules limiting protests on campus.

“These are more disciplinary actions than have been done in probably the last ten years at Columbia,” he said. “And I promise you, from the messages I’m hearing from students , that they are getting the message that violations will have consequences.”