Recap: Police break up demonstration at UChicago; protest outside Columbia trustees' homes
Editor's Note: This is a summary of news about campus protests from Tuesday, May 7. Read our latest coverage.
NEW YORK – Demonstrators picketed outside the homes of Columbia University trustees as police cracked down on an encampment in Chicago Tuesday in the latest wave of demonstrations to sweep the nation amid Israel’s intensifying offensive in Gaza.
Police raided an encampment around 4:40 a.m. Tuesday that had been set up on the main quad of the University of Chicago for eight days, according to school officials. Video of the police response shows officers in riot gear tearing down posters and disassembling tents.
University President Paul Alivisatos said in a statement that no arrests have been made but added that "where appropriate, disciplinary action will proceed." He cited mounting safety concerns for the decision to break up the encampment.
Encampments at universities in Europe increasingly became the site of police action while protesters at the Rhode Island School of Design continuing to occupy a building they took over on Monday. At MIT, demonstrators remained at an encampment on Tuesday after it was mostly emptied out following an ultimatum from the university.
Protesters demonstrate outside homes of Columbia trustees
Exactly a week after New York City police raided Columbia University campus at the school administration’s request, students began demonstrating off campus on a sunny Tuesday morning at the homes and offices of the board of trustees.
Less than three dozen demonstrators peacefully picketed outside the posh Upper West Side apartment building of university board of trustees co-chair David Greenwald. Demonstrators accused Greenwald – who joined University President Minouche Shafik in testifying before Congress in April – for his role in the university’s continued support of Israel through investments, as well as the decision to call in the NYPD to dismantle an encampment and clear a building that had been occupied by protesters.“Greenwald, Greenwald, you can’t hide,” the group chanted from across the street, on a tree-lined sidewalk next to the American Museum of Natural History. “You’re supporting genocide.”
The small group of students had several hecklers flip them off or yell at them. At one point, a USA TODAY reporter witnessed the aftermath of an incident in which a woman punched a demonstrator in the face, seemingly at random, near the American Museum of Natural History. The demonstrator nursed her injury on a park bench. NYPD told USA TODAY they hadn't received a call for the incident. A nearby NYPD squad car had been following the marchers, though it's unclear if officers saw the woman punch the demonstrator.
Columbia kicked off the wave of student protests across the country and overseas last month. On Monday, the university announced that it canceled its main commencement and will instead focus on smaller graduation ceremonies.
Police crack down on pro-Palestinian protests in Europe
At universities in Berlin and Amsterdam, police arrested dozens of protesters who, like their American counterparts, were galvanized in opposition of Israel's seven-month offensive in Gaza. Similar protests have broken out at universities across Europe in recent days.
At Free University in Berlin, police arrested more than 100 protesters who had set up an encampment on a campus courtyard, multiple outlets reported.
A statement from the university said a group of 60-80 people, including students from Free University and other institutions, set up an encampment on Tuesday and encouraged others to join. The university said the group refused to negotiate with campus leadership and that property damage had occurred. Additionally, the university called off classes in several campus buildings and closed a cafeteria and a library.
“This kind of protest is not dialogue oriented. An occupation of university property is not acceptable. We welcome academic debate and dialogue – but not in this form,” said Günter M. Ziegler, the president of Free University in a statement.
In the Netherlands, police clashed with protesters for a second day after law enforcement broke up a demonstration at the University of Amsterdam on Monday, Reuters reported.
Columbia alumni boycott class reunions
A group of Columbia University and Barnard College alumni announced it will boycott school reunions later this month as a way to withdraw support for the university and push the institution to meet protesters' demands to divest from Israel.
"I'm proud of these students for sparking one of the most important protest movements in recent times, and that's who I feel proud of – not the university and administration," said Michael Carter, a member of the Columbia Alternative Reunion Committee.
The boycotting group, whose members now number in the hundreds, formed before student protesters occupied Hamilton Hall, Carter said. The group stands with students and faculty who were expressing their voice to call on the university to disclose and divest endowment money from companies supporting Israel’s government.
Each year, thousands of alumni and their families descend on Columbia’s Manhattan campus after the spring semester to celebrate and reunite with their college community as part of official class reunion events, which come at a fee. Parties, dinners and receptions planned by alumni and university staff will be held the last weekend in May, which helps alumni – and their wallets – stay connected to the university, Carter said.
"This entire thing hinges around the endowment of Columbia University and the biggest single source of that endowment are the alumni," said Carter, who graduated from the university in 2014, one of the biggest class years represented in the boycotting group.
Columbia Alternative Reunion Committee said it will be hosting its own events in New York on May 31 and June 1, and alumni donations will go toward Palestinian aid organizations, including the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, Palestine Children’s Relief Fund and World Central Kitchen.
The alternative events will be held at bars and local businesses in Uptown Manhattan, Carter said, and alumni can expect to celebrate and socialize as they would at traditional reunion events.
“This alternative reunion is welcome to all who feel similarly or wish to learn more in good faith,” the committee said.
– Claire Thornton
Protesters occupy building at Rhode Island School of Design
Students from the Rhode Island School of Design and others occupied a school administration building on campus, forcing the university to relocate some of its classes.
A group called RISD students for Justice in Palestine is leading the occupation of Providence Washington Hall and says it has renamed the building Fathi Ghaben Place, after a Palestinian painter who died earlier this year.
RISD has asked the students to relocate "out of respect for their peers academic' experience," RISD spokeswoman Jaime Marland told the Providence Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network. In the meantime, the school is relocating classes that were scheduled for the building Tuesday.
"While we have and continue to affirm our students’ right to freedom of expression, freedom of speech, and peaceful assembly, we also respect the rights of the many students who want to attend their classes," Marland said via email.
– Jack Perry, Providence Journal
NYPD investigates driver who hit pro-Palestinian protester with car
Police said a driver hit a 55-year-old woman with his car on New York City’s Upper East Side Tuesday morning during a pro-Palestinian demonstration outside the home of a university trustee.
The New York City Police Department told USA TODAY an argument broke out between protesters and a driver around 9 a.m. Tuesday. As the group of roughly 25 demonstrators walked away, a driver hit a 55-year-old woman with his Volvo, the NYPD said. The driver and two demonstrators have been taken into custody, including the woman who was treated at the hospital for minor injuries. The NYPD declined to release their names since they hadn’t been charged as of 3:30 p.m.
Student organizers disputed the NYPD's account. Columbia University Apartheid Divest, the group that organized the picket, said in a statement that demonstrators were on the crosswalk when the driver ran his car into a person identified as a “de-escalation team” member.
The student group said the driver pulled up in his car, asked for a flier then grabbed a protester’s arm. The driver then parked in front of picketers until they were leaving before circling the block to drive into the demonstration, the statement said. Organizers said the injured person has been handcuffed to a bed in the hospital.
– Eduardo Cuevas
FBI, LAPD asked to assist in probe of violent UCLA counter-protest
The University of California, Los Angeles has solicited the LAPD and FBI to help investigate an incident in which counter-protesters tried to dismantle a pro-Palestinian encampment, leading to hours of violent clashes.
The incident, which occurred on April 30, has not led to any arrests but caused an uproar of backlash against the campus administration and police force. Along with an investigation into the violent episode, the university's newly created Office of Campus Safety, will review the campus police department’s response to the attack as well as an analysis of UCLA’s safety protocols.
Officials have not identified those involved in the violent counter-protest. Some wore sweatshirts with pro-Israel messages, waved Israeli flags and chanted pro-Israel slogans.
“Holding the instigators of this attack accountable and enhancing our campus safety operations are both critical,” a statement from UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said. “Our community members can only learn, work and thrive in an environment where they feel secure.”
Columbia students continue to protest in NYC
As the sun beamed down Tuesday morning, Sueda Polat, a Columbia graduate student and one of the former campus protest negotiators, chanted outside a Manhattan skyscraper, home to the law offices of Jeh Johnson, a Columbia University trustee.
She was one of dozens participating in protests outside the homes and offices of members of Columbia's Board of Trustees, demonstrations planned by student groups. Polat said many of her fellow classmates will continue to protest outside the Columbia campus walls, as the NYPD has agreed to maintain a presence there until after next week's graduation ceremonies.
“We're still going strong,” she told USA TODAY. “I mean, campus being closed doesn't mean that we don't have anything to do.”
Protesters demonstrate outside home of Harvard president
In Massachusetts, more than 400 people protested Monday night outside the home of Alan M. Garber, the president of Harvard University, according to the Harvard Crimson. The rally was organized in reaction to the president refusing to negotiate with protesters at an encampment on Harvard Yard.
Garber in a public statement had earlier demanded that students break up the encampment or face a potential ban from campus.
Protesters reoccupy MIT encampment
Pro-Palestinian protesters at MIT, including students, remained in an encampment a day after they were issued an ultimatum to leave or face disciplinary action.
MIT Chancellor Melissa Nobles said dozens of "interim suspensions and referrals to the Committee on Discipline" are underway after the university on Monday ordered student protesters to end the encampment.
University President Sally Kornbluth set a 2:30 p.m. deadline on Monday for students to clear the camp or said they would be prohibited from classes, exams and commencement. By the deadline, most students left, though there was a large demonstration held just outside the encampment by students and outside protesters, the university said.
Around 6:30 p.m. Monday, a person hopped a barricade and entered the encampment, “causing a surge, and soon the area was breached,” according to the university. Soon, more than 150 people were inside the encampment area.
“We have much work still to do to resolve this situation, and will continue to communicate as needed,” Kornbluth said in a statement Monday night.