Columbia, an exclusive Ivy League campus in New York City, experienced turmoil on its campus last spring with weeks of anti-Israel and pro-Hamas protests. The school now appears determined to prevent a similar scenario in coming weeks.
Students must pass through one of five entrances and can only bring a guest who has filled out a guest registration form, the university has announced.
Dr. Zachary Marschall, editor-in-chief of Campus Reform, tells AFN non-student protesters breached campus security last spring and created a “major problem” at the university.
AFN reported in a May story when Columbia belatedly ordered the arrest of hundreds of protesters who had taken over an academic building, Hamilton Hall.
A related story by Fox News said the students were coached by a full-time activist, Lisa Fithian, who describes herself as a “protest consultant.”
A second outside activist on the Columbia campus has been identified as James Carlson, a 40-year-old millionaire from Brooklyn.
“I think anything universities can do to distinguish students from adults, and keep the two separated while they're trying to control these protests, is a good thing,” Marschall says.
Columbia’s now-former president, Minouche Shafik, resigned August 14 over criticism for her handling of the campus protests.
