Note: This is a developing story, and due to the Hi-Tide’s publication cycle, information may be outdated. For more information, the Hi-Tide recommends the New York Times and CNN Politics.
In response to the mass arrests at Columbia University on April 18th, hundreds of student demonstrators across the country have been taken into police custody as a new wave of protests takes hold coast to coast. Demonstrations and encampments have emerged at over 40 colleges and universities nationwide, including Yale, NYU, UNC Chapel Hill, USC, UT Austin, and UCLA. Police interventions have so far led to over 1,100 arrests as administrators seek to quell the unrest and defuse tension on campus over pro-Palestinian demonstrations. The occupations have resulted in the closure of Columbia University and Cal State Humbolt for the remainder of the semester.
The international movement was spurred after Columbia University’s president Nemat Shafik authorized the NYPD to shut down and dismantle a student-organized “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” leading to over a hundred student arrests. The arrests mark the first time Columbia has allowed the suppression of campus protests since the 1968 demonstrations against the Vietnam War. Shafik’s decision reportedly “backfired,” and there have been calls from all sides for her to step down.
Students across the country have protested and started their own encampments in solidarity with the arrested students at Columbia. The varying demands of protesters from school to school include that universities divest from companies linked to Israel or businesses profiting off its war with Hamas. Other common demands include demanding universities disclose their investments, sever academic ties with Israeli universities, and support a ceasefire with Gaza. Protest movements at some schools call for schools to protect free speech and spare students from being punished for participating in the protests. None of the universities have announced plans to divest from Israel-linked investments, and some experts say they will be “very reluctant” to accept this demand.
Both Israeli and American officials have condemned antisemitism on college campuses amid the nationwide wave of pro-Palestinian demonstrations. University leaders have also faced pressure from Republican lawmakers, including Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, who visited Columbia’s campus to meet with Jewish students and held a tense news conference calling on the resignation of Columbia’s president and for the White House to quell the protests. Johnson told reporters on Monday, “We need moral clarity on the issue. We need everyone from the president on down to speak out about this and say that it is clearly wrong and Jewish students aren’t second-class students and they can attend class like everyone else.” Campus protesters have disputed the notion that their movement has made pro-Israel students unsafe. Over 200 groups have expressed support for the protests, including Senator Bernie Sanders.
Updates: On Wednesday morning, counter-protesters attacked the UCLA encampment.
