1 of 4 | A small group of protesters gather at an entrance to Columbia University in New York City on Tuesday. Photo by Louis Lanzano/UPI | License Photo
Columbia University reported on Tuesday that a group of pro-Palestinian protesters entered and occupied Hamilton Hall at its Morningside campus after defying an order to vacate encampments.
The university warned people to stay away from the campus in a note early Tuesday morning. Advertisement
“In light of the protest activity on campus, members of the university community who can avoid coming to the Morningside campus today should do so,” the university said in a public safety statement. “Essential personnel should report to work according to university policy.”
Hamilton Hall stands in distinction for being taken over during campus anti-Vietnam demonstrations in 1968. Protesters came together outside of the building early Thursday before a small group broke off and stormed the hall.
That group barricaded themselves inside using vending machines, chairs and the desk inside of Hamilton Hall. The demonstrators appeared to break windows from the inside as they were cheered on by the outside crowd.
The group Columbia University Apartheid Divest took responsibility for the Hamilton Hall storming on social media.
“This escalation represents the next generation of the 1968, 1985 and 1992 student movements which Columbia once repressed yet celebrate today,” the group’s message on X said. “Protesters have voiced their intention to remain at [Hamilton Hall] until Columbia concedes to CUAD’s three demands: divestment, financial transparency and amnesty.” Advertisement
The occupation came hours after Columbia’s President Minouche Shafik said that talks had broken down between the university and protesting students by a deadline set for them to vacate encampments erected over Israel’s response to Hamas in Gaza since last October.
Columbia said it began suspending students who violated the deadline, barring them from entering university buildings and revoking their eligibility to complete the semester or graduate.
The protest at Columbia University is a part of protests at university campuses across the country protesting Israel’s action during the Gaza war that has left much of the region damaged and its residents desperate for humanitarian aid.
