Deadline passed but students in Columbia camp did not move

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters marched around the protest camp at Columbia University on Monday, as a deadline set by the university to vacate its central lawn passed and students inside did not disperse.

Columbia had given the students until 2 pm to leave the camp, and warned them that if they did not leave by then they would face immediate suspension.

There was no presence of New York Police Department officers and no immediate indication that university public safety officers were moving in. But it was unclear how the school would proceed to enforce its deadline.

There were about 80 tents and it appeared that about 60 protesters were left there around 2 p.m. There was also a crowd of media in the campus.

The university’s order to vacate the encampment appears to be an attempt to clear the area without calling the police department, whose intervention on April 18 at the request of Columbia administrators led to the arrest of more than 100 students and plans to create a similar encampment. An international movement was instigated. On dozens of university and college campuses.

On Monday morning, students at the camp received a notice from administrators saying talks with student protest leaders were at an impasse. It urged students to voluntarily vacate the school to allow the school to prepare the lawn for the graduation ceremony on May 15.

“The ongoing unauthorized encroachment and disruption on the campus of Columbia University is creating an unpleasant environment for members of our community,” the notice said. “Please collect your belongings immediately and leave the camp.”

If students sign a form promising not to break any university rules until the end of the next academic year, they will not be penalized for attending the camp. The document says students living at the camp who are already facing discipline from past violations, but who are still there, may not be eligible for the same deal.

The notice also warns students that even if they have signed the form, they may still be held liable for charges of discrimination and harassment arising from their involvement in the camp.

For those who did not leave, it was not immediately clear how Colombia would enforce clearing the encampment. Last Friday, Colombia’s President Nemat Shafik, in a statement to the community, refused to call again on the police department to evacuate the place.

“We once asked the NYPD to remove the encroachment,” they wrote in a notice co-signed by the co-chairs of Columbia’s board of trustees, “but we all share the view based on discussions within our community and with outside experts.” We do. , that bringing back the NYPD at this time would be counterproductive, would further inflame what is happening on campus, and would draw thousands of people to our doors who would threaten our community.

Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student and lead negotiator on behalf of Columbia University Apartheid Divest, the student coalition that organized the camp, called the deadline “just another scare tactic on the part of the university.”

He said, “The university is dealing with this matter as a disciplinary issue, not as a movement to disengage from war.”

At noon, about 150 students gathered at the camp to vote on whether to continue despite the danger. Mr. Khalil, one of the speakers who addressed the students, compared the university’s notice to vacate the camp to a similar notice last week, which was later postponed by Columbia to allow more time for negotiations. I went.

He told the group, “We must not stop here because people in Gaza are under bombs, and here we are under disciplinary charges.”

anna bates Contributed to the reporting.