Columbia University braces for antisemitic protests, locking down campus as students return
Orange alert lockdown as Columbia students return for 1st semester since anti-Israel barricade
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Columbia University in New York City is welcoming students back for the fall 2024 semester with a lockdown to keep out "non-affiliates" with bad intentions as part of its response to antisemitic protests in the spring that culminated with police storming a barricaded building to drag out anti-Israel agitators, authorities announced over the weekend.
Police made dozens of arrests at the school's Hamilton Hall building and at a separate demonstration at the City College of New York; almost half of the suspects were non-students, authorities said.
Demonstrators had smashed windows, blocked windows and doors with chains and furniture and were seen covering their faces with keffiyehs before police took them into custody. Outside, they maintained a tent encampment for weeks.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A masked figure smashes a window to get inside Hamilton Hall at Columbia University in New York City on April 30, 2024. (Alex Kent/Getty Images)
"This change is intended to keep our community safe given reports of potential disruptions at Columbia and on college campuses across the country as we approach the beginning of the new school year," the university's chief operating officer Cas Holloway said in a statement. "We are particularly concerned about non-affiliates who may not have the best interests of the Columbia community in mind."
Orange rules block anyone without a university ID or guest pre-registration from entering the campus and place limits on entrances and exits.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Outdoor furniture and ropes secure the front entrance of Hamilton Hall, which student protesters barricaded near a protest encampment in support of Palestinians at Columbia University, despite orders from university officials to disband or face suspension, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in New York City on April 30, 2024. (REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs)
The new rules took effect Monday and will remain in place indefinitely, authorities said.
Campus entry along 116th Street is limited to checkpoints at Broadway, Amsterdam Avenue and the Wien Gate near Morningside Drive, on 114th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam, and at the Northwest Corner Building at the intersection of 120th Street and Broadway.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}According to the school's website, there are four colors with varying degrees of public access to the campus.
Under green rules, the outdoor campus is open to everyone, but a university ID is needed to get into buildings. All the campuses' entrances are in use.
Anti-Israel agitators block the entrance of Hamilton Hall at Columbia University in New York City on April 30, 2024. (AP/Marco Postigo Storel)
The campus remains open to the public under yellow rules, but some entrances and exits are closed, and others may have time restrictions.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Under red rules, there is no guest access at all, and only students who live on campus or essential staff can come and go.
New York Police Department officers enter the Columbia University building and detain pro-Palestinian demonstrators as they had barricaded themselves in the iconic Hamilton Hall building in New York City on April 30, 2024. More than 100 people were arrested, according to reports. (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The school said last week that it was looking at security enhancements after weeks of protests targeted the Israeli counteroffensive in Gaza, as well as Jewish students at the Manhattan Ivy League school.
"President [Minouche] Shafik and the university leadership team take their responsibility for the safety and well-being of the entire university community seriously," a university spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "The university has been using the summer both to learn from the lessons of the past academic year and plan for the next one."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A pro-Palestinian demonstrator holds a flag on the rooftop of Hamilton Hall at Columbia University in New York City on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The school faced criticism over its response to the agitators, who set up camp on a lawn and were accused of starting antisemitic confrontations. Some faculty members defended the group and even blocked other students and members of the press from entering their encampment.
Masked agitators barricade themselves inside Hamilton Hall at Columbia University in New York City on April 30, 2024. Police cleared the facility and arrested dozens of people who had blocked doors with furniture and steel chains. (Alex Kent/Getty Images)
Last month, the university also removed three senior staff members accused of sharing antisemitic text messages.
New York Police Department officers detain dozens of pro-Palestinian students at Columbia University after they barricaded themselves at the Hamilton Hall building near Gaza Solidarity Encampment earlier in New York City on April 30, 2024. (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"As part of this consultative process, we are looking at various ways to supplement our public safety capabilities. We seek to strengthen the department’s skills and training in de-escalation techniques, expanding the department’s ability to manage a range of incidents while taking into account the fact Columbia does not have its own police force, as many peer institutions have, and potentially reducing our reliance on the NYPD," the spokesperson said.
That could involve adding peace officers with arrest powers to the school's public safety department, the Wall Street Journal reported.