US President Joe BidenAFP
Published 04/30/2024 17:04
Columbia University in the United States said on Tuesday (30) that students who occupy a campus building as part of pro-Palestine protests could be expelled from their academic programs, in the latest move in a standoff with school employees.
“Students occupying the building face expulsion,” the institution’s public affairs office said in a statement, adding that protesters were offered “the opportunity to leave peacefully” but refused and escalated the situation.
The prestigious university in New York City, which has already begun temporarily suspending students who refuse to comply with dispersal orders, said it has been “very clear” that it will not tolerate repeated disruptions by protesters who violate campus rules. .
“Continuing to do so will have clear consequences. Protesters have chosen to escalate to an untenable situation – vandalizing property, breaking doors and windows and blocking entrances – and we are following through with the consequences we outlined yesterday,” said university spokesperson Ben Chang , in the statement.
Protests against the war in the Gaza Strip, with their high number of Palestinian civilian deaths, have posed a challenge for university administrators trying to balance free speech rights with complaints that demonstrations have devolved into anti-Semitism and hatred.
Unrest has gripped U.S. higher education institutions, with camps set up on campuses from Connecticut to Texas to California after about 100 protesters were arrested in Columbia on April 18.
Columbia University said its threat of expulsion and other responses were aimed at the protesters’ actions and not their cause.
Masked people broke windows and blocked doors with metal tables early Tuesday after administrators began suspending protesting students.
“As we said yesterday, the disturbances on campus have created a threatening environment for many of our Jewish students and faculty and a noisy distraction that interferes with teaching, learning and preparation for final exams, and contributes to a hostile environment in violation of Title VI,” Chang said, referring to the code that protects students from discrimination and harassment.
The White House strongly criticized the building’s occupancy. Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson called the protests “terrorism” and called for the resignation of Columbia University President Minouche Shafik.
