Columbia shifts classes online amid tensions
NEW YORK – As tensions over the IsraelHamas war continue to boil on campuses across the country, Columbia moved classes online, Harvard Yard was closed to the public, and dozens of Yale students had been arrested by Monday morning.
Demonstrations at both Yale and Harvard were planned, in part, out of solidarity with protesters at Columbia after they set up an encampment last week that led to the arrests of more than 100 students. The protests have raised concerns for the safety of Jewish students and fueled a national debate over student demonstrations as campuses grapple with growing unrest over the war in Gaza.
Columbia President Minouche Shafik said in a statement Monday that while online classes are being held, a working group of deans, university administrators and faculty members “will try to bring this crisis to a resolution.”
“I am deeply saddened by what is happening on our campus,” Shafik said in a statement. “Our bonds as a community have been severely tested in ways that will take a great deal of time and effort to reaffirm.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul met with Shafik on Monday morning to discuss the security situation on the school’s Manhattan campus. In a video posted on X, the governor underscored the need to ensure students and faculty have the right to peacefully protest while also upholding human rights laws. “The recent harassment and rhetoric is vile and abhorrent,” Hochul wrote in a social media post.
At Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, at least 47 students were arrested early Monday morning as campus police cleared an encampment set up by students last week.