“Students occupying the building face expulsion.”
Columbia University has warned students who took over and barricaded themselves inside a building on campus as part of an ongoing pro-Palestinian demonstration that they face now expulsion.
Protesters first took over Hamilton Hall early on Tuesday morning after defying orders to disperse from an earlier encampment they had set up at Columbia University’s Morningside Campus in New York City. Participants were seen vandalizing the building and moving furniture and other items into the entryways.
In a statement Tuesday, Columbia spokesperson Ben Chang said “students occupying the building face expulsion,” and those who defied the earlier calls to disperse on Monday were being suspended.
“Protesters have chosen to escalate to an untenable situation—vandalizing property, breaking doors and windows, and blockading entrances—and we are following through with the consequences we outlined yesterday,” he said.
Earlier on Tuesday morning, Columbia University announced access across its Morningside Campus had been restricted to on-campus residents and essential employees.
“Effective immediately, access to the Morningside campus has been limited to students residing in residential buildings on campus (Carman, Furnald, John Jay, Hartley, Wallach, East Campus and Wien) and employees who provide essential services to campus buildings, labs and residential student life (for example, Dining, Public Safety, and building maintenance staff),” the university announced in a press statement. “There is no additional access to the Morningside campus.”
The university also said the only way in and out of the Morningside Campus now is through its 116th Street and Amsterdam gate.
The campus closure comes a week after University President Minouche Shafik halted in-person learning over concerns that pro-Palestinian protesters had begun to disrupt learning and harass other students.
The university had taken steps to disperse the earlier encampments, and on Monday gave a 2 p.m. deadline for the protesters to finally pack up. That deadline came and went with many protest participants still refusing to budge, leading campus administrators to begin issuing suspensions.
By Ryan Morgan
