Video on the social media platform X shows students walking in and taking over the Milstein Library at Barnard College on Wednesday.
Campus Reform's Zachary Marschall said these particular protests have been going on now for almost a week.
They’re all about Barnard’s response to two students who were expelled for their disruption in January of a class on modern Israel history.
“Barnard College, which is affiliated with Columbia University, took swift action and expelled the students. A few weeks later that created a domino effect where you now have a series of occupations primarily targeting the Dean's office that was responsible for the expulsion."
Columbia's Students for Justice in Palestine (Columbia unrest in 2024 shown above) posted a list of demands along with a message that said they will not stop until their demands are met.
The demands include immediate reversal of the two Barnard students' expulsions and "amnesty for all students disciplined for pro-Palestine action or thought. Drop all the charges now!” the note read.
“As of our conversation right now, the library was cleared out because there was a bomb threat to the school, and so there was a forced evacuation. A few important things to note is that there was a lot of resistance among the occupiers to leave,” Marschall told AFN.
He explained Barnard officials attempted de-escalation and negotiation.
Those efforts “have failed miserably in the past for that school in particular and every other school, and their negotiations and de-escalations resulted in a bomb threat, which I think is kind of a sign that it was complete failure.”
Protesters occupied the hallway leading to the office of Barnard Dean Leslie Grinage on Feb. 26. Starting at 4 p.m., they held it through more than six hours of negotiations.
Barnard College President Laura Rosenbury published a letter in the Chronicle of Higher Education this week calling this is a line in the sand.
“But that is a very weak response,” Marschall said. “The line in the sand (should have) happened a year and a half ago, and that should never have even been tolerated. They should have invited police on campus in the first minute and arrested all of them for even occupying the dean's office in the first place."
Columbia support for students
Fox News reports the protestors also requested a public meeting with Barnard's Dean and President. They also demand for there to be complete transparency for current, past and future disciplinary procedures.
Columbia University sent out a statement a short time after the protests started, saying, "The disruption of academic activities is not acceptable conduct."
It added, "We are committed to supporting our Columbia student body and our campus community during this challenging time."
