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The Guardian
27-02-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Pro-Palestinian students stage sit-in at Barnard College to protest expulsions
A group of pro-Palestinian student protesters stormed a Barnard College building on Wednesday to protest the expulsion last month of two students who interrupted a university class on Israel. The demonstrators, who numbered in the dozens, staged a sit-in outside Barnard dean Leslie Grinage's office in the college's Milbank Hall, the Columbia Spectator reported. A Barnard employee was 'physically assaulted' as students entered the building and was taken to an area hospital, a spokesperson for the college said in a statement. The 41-year-old man complained of 'pain about the body', the New York Times reported, citing a police spokesperson. He was later reported to be in stable condition. Video posted online by Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine shows the protesters, wearing masks and dressed in kaffiyeh scarves, rushing past university security to join others at the sit-in. Once there, demonstrators chanted slogans in support of Palestine, clapped and banged on drums. Protesters had gathered to demand that Barnard to reverse the students' expulsions, which came after they interrupted a 'History of Modern Israel' class on 21 January, taught by Professor Avi Shilon, a lecturer with Columbia University's Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies. The masked students who interrupted the class condemned it as 'Zionist propaganda', in a statement read aloud. 'Israel is backed by world's most violent and imperialist forces and they attempt to erase this truth from our collective consciousness,' said one masked demonstrator, referring to the class. As of Thursday morning, more than 113,000 people have signed a letter requesting that the expelled students be reinstated. Barnard College has not confirmed the status of the students to the Guardian. Among other demands, demonstrators on Wednesday called for charges to be dropped against students who engaged in other pro-Palestinian actions, an 'abolition' of the current Barnard disciplinary process and for a public meeting with Grinage and Barnard president Laura Rosenbury. Three faculty members acted as facilitators between demonstrators and Dean Grinage, the Spectator reported. Students ultimately stayed for more than six hours before leaving the building at about 10.30pm, with a private meeting reportedly scheduled for Thursday. In a update issued Thursday morning, Robin Levine, Barnard's vice-president of strategic communications, said that students left Milbank Hall after receiving 'final written notice' that the college would consider 'additional necessary measures to protect the campus' if demonstrators did not vacate. 'No promises of amnesty were made, and no concessions were negotiated,' said Levine. Barnard College representatives condemned accused protesters of showing a 'disregard for the safety of our community'. At least nine NYPD vans were parked near the university by the time the sit in disbanded. Another protest was planned to take place Thursday afternoon outside Barnard College. Sign up to Headlines US Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion Barnard is an affiliate of Columbia University, which became a focal point for the pro-Palestinian protests that spread across the country after 7 October 2023. The latest action recalled a student occupation of Hamilton Hall last year, which resulted in the arrests of more than 100 students. Demonstrations have largely died down in 2025, in part due to protest restrictions imposed by campuses to prevent a repeat of the unrest in the last school year. But Donald Trump and other rightwing legislators have called for a crackdown on student protests under the guise of combatting antisemitism and leftist views at US colleges. One of Trump's executive orders calls on agencies to explore ways to deport pro-Palestinian international students. Hundreds of people gathered on Wednesday afternoon to protect the mosque – but the planned pro-Israel rally did not go ahead. Also on Wednesday, New York governor Kathy Hochul ordered the City University of New York (Cuny) to immediately remove a job posting advertising a Palestinian studies professor role at the state university system's Hunter College, in what Cuny's union condemned as a blatant violation of academic freedom. Protests against Hochul were also planned for on Thursday.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pro-Palestine protesters occupy Barnard College, disrupting classes
(NewsNation) — Pro-Palestine protesters staged a sit-in at Barnard College's Milbank Hall on Wednesday, disrupting classes and demanding the reinstatement of two expelled students, The Columbia Spectator reported. The demonstration began around 4 p.m. ET near Dean Leslie Grinage's office, with protesters chanting 'Grinage, Grinage you can't hide' and 'Dean Grinage, we know you, you expel your students, too.' According to Columbia University Apartheid Divest, the protesters demanded 'the immediate reversal' of two student expulsions and a public meeting with Barnard President Laura Rosenbury, as well as Grinage. Bill O'Reilly details Trump's vision for Gaza after speaking with him In a statement to NewsNation, Barnard spokesperson Robin Levine said that 'a small group of masked protesters forcibly entered Milbank Hall and physically assaulted a Barnard employee, sending them to the hospital.' The statement added that protesters 'encouraged others to enter campus without identification, showing blatant disregard for the safety of our community.' CUAD claims the students were expelled for participating in a Jan. 21 disruption of a History of Modern Israel class, The Columbia Spectator reported. 'We have taken the administration completely off guard! They will have no peace until we have justice,' CUAD wrote on Instagram. Barnard officials offered to meet with three 'unmasked and uncovered' Barnard students as negotiators, but required ID checks and the presence of a witness and security officer. Protesters countered with demands for amnesty for all demonstrators and no video recording of the meeting, The Columbia Spectator reported. Will the SAVE Act keep married women from voting? Columbia University distanced itself from the incident, stating: 'Barnard College is a separate institution from Columbia University, although it is affiliated. Columbia is not responsible for security on Barnard's campus.' Protesters voted hourly on whether to continue the sit-in, The Columbia Spectator reported. By 7:28 p.m., they had decided to remain until at least 8:30 p.m., with Barnard threatening 'additional, necessary measures' if protesters did not leave by 9:30 p.m. The protesters also wrote 'For Hind' on the dean's office door, referencing Hind Rajab, a 6-year-old Palestinian girl killed by the Israeli military in January 2024. In April 2024, protesters occupied Columbia's Hamilton Hall and renamed it 'Hind's Hall.' Barnard told faculty to cancel or relocate classes scheduled in Milbank Hall after 5 p.m. CUAD announced that more protests were scheduled for Thursday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New York Times
27-02-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Pro-Palestinian Demonstrators Stage Sit-in at Barnard Over Expulsions
Dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators barged into Milbank Hall on Barnard College's Manhattan campus on Wednesday and staged a sit-in over the expulsion of two students who interrupted a class on Israel, sparking a showdown with Barnard's administration. The masked protesters pushed past a security guard as they entered the building at about 4 p.m., video that they shot showed, with the goal of occupying the area outside Dean Leslie Grinage's office. A college spokeswoman said in a statement that the protesters had 'physically assaulted a Barnard employee, sending them to the hospital' as they entered the building. A Police Department spokesman said that a 41-year-old man had been taken by ambulance to Mt. Sinai Morningside Hospital at 4:08 p.m. complaining of 'pain about the body' and was in stable condition. The sit-in ended Wednesday night after Barnard set a deadline and threatened to take further action, such as calling in the New York Police Department. Chanting 'there is only one solution, intifada revolution' and beating drums, the masked students began their sit-in. Their demands included the immediate reversal of the student suspensions and amnesty for all other students disciplined for pro-Palestinian activism. They also requested a public meeting with Dean Grinage, who they said could decide on appeals of the student suspensions, and with the Barnard president, Laura Rosenbury. 'Disruption until Divestment, Resistance Until Return, Agitation until Amnesty,' Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine, a banned group on campus, posted on X with images of the sit-in. 'We will not stop until our demands are met.' After several hours, a faculty intermediary, Kristina Milnor, the chair of the Barnard classics department, told the students that Dean Grinage had offered to meet with up to three protesters, but only if they came in unmasked, according to video posted by the protesters. The students rejected the terms. President Rosenbury was in Florida, Professor Milnor told the students. About 8:30 p.m., Robin Levine, a Barnard spokeswoman, issued a statement saying that if the students did not agree to leave the building by 9:30 p.m., 'Barnard will be forced to consider additional, necessary measures to protect our campus.' She said that the college did not know if all of the protesters were Barnard students, and that there had been violence entering the hall. 'We have made multiple good-faith efforts to de-escalate. Barnard leadership offered to meet with the protesters — just as we meet with all members of our community — on one simple condition: remove their masks. They refused. We have also offered mediation,' Ms. Levine said in the statement. The deadline was relayed to the protesters by another faculty member, who told them they had an hour more to talk, before officers from the Police Department might come. Several students were seen escaping out a first-floor window as the deadline came and went. At 10:40 p.m., the protesters, chanting and beating a drum, marched out peacefully without confrontation with the police. According to the Columbia Spectator, the student newspaper, at least nine Police Department vans were parked on Riverside Drive near the campus at around 10 p.m. The students were protesting the expulsion of two students who had been accused of participating in a disruption of Professor Avi Shilon's 'History of Modern Israel' class at Columbia University on Jan. 21 . Professor Shilon, a visiting history professor from Israel, had been reviewing the course syllabus with students when four masked pro-Palestinian demonstrators entered the classroom. The protesters filmed themselves, saying they were disrupting a 'Zionist class' from 'intellectualizing and normalizing a genocide.' They handed out antisemitic fliers, including one of a Jewish star being stomped by a jackboot. Professor Shilon, after recovering from his initial shock, asked the protesters if they wanted to stay to study instead of disrupting the class, he said in an interview. They refused. After about five minutes, they left. The expulsions of the two students were disclosed by the student protest group Columbia University Apartheid Divest. Barnard officials declined to discuss the status of the students, who have not been identified, citing confidentiality concerns. Expulsion is a rare punishment, and the speed and severity of Barnard's discipline surprised many students. A third protester from the classroom disruption is a Columbia student who has been suspended while an investigation continues; a fourth protester has not been identified. President Rosenbury, in a statement on Sunday, said that student privacy rules prevented her from commenting directly on the expulsions. 'That said, as a matter of principle and policy,' she wrote, 'Barnard will always take decisive action to protect our community as a place where learning thrives, individuals feel safe and higher education is celebrated.' She indicated that the students had not displayed remorse for their actions and had shown 'no reflection, and no willingness to change.' Indeed, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, which posted video of the disruption, celebrated it, writing, 'STUDENTS DISRUPTED A ZIONIST CLASS, YOU SHOULD TOO!'
