A third Barnard College anti-Israel student activist was allegedly expelled for actions at Columbia University on Friday, according to a Monday Columbia University Apartheid Divest statement, which comes days after a Barnard administrative building was occupied by protesters demanding that two previous activist expulsions be revoked.
The activist was allegedly expelled for their involvement in the April occupation of Columbia’s Hamilton Hall, with CUAD asserting that the decision on the several-month-long disciplinary process was both an act of intimidation against participants of the Wednesday protest and to placate a Friday Justice Department antisemitism task force probe of Columbia.
CUAD claimed Monday that negotiations with the Barnard administration, allegedly agreed to as a condition for the dissolution of the Wednesday occupation, had stalled due to the academic institution changing meeting terms. The group's threats of mass arrest and promises of amnesty for participating in the “sit-in” also influenced their decision to conclude the demonstration.
Barnard President Laura Ann Rosenbury said in a Monday Chronicle of Education opinion article that the administration had deescalated the protest without the intervention of the New York Police Department but had not granted amnesty or made concessions.
“To those who hide behind masks, we invite you to step forward, not in anonymity but in dialogue. We welcome respectful conversation in a space of shared learning and accountability. That requires knowing who is at the table,” Rosenbury wrote in the Chronicle. “Last week was a test, set in motion by Barnard’s decision to act decisively after the classroom disruption. Expulsion is always an extraordinary measure, but we did what needed to be done, and we will continue to do so.”
Rosenbury warned in the op-ed that despite protesters wearing masks, the administration was aware of many of their identities and would pursue disciplinary action against those who forcibly entered the building, knocking down a security guard and hospitalizing them in the process.
CUAD alleged on X Monday that the administration was lying about the assault of a staff member and asserted that it was their activists who had been harmed, presenting photographs of bruised students.
The Wednesday protests, which saw walls graffitied, according to the Chronicle op-ed caused $30,000 in damages to offices and classrooms.
Rosenbury wrote that the incident was part of a 16-month campaign by CUAD to tear apart the campus community by exploiting the Israel-Hamas War.
“They operate in the shadows, hiding behind masks and Instagram posts with Molotov cocktails aimed at Barnard buildings, antisemitic tropes about wealth, influence, and ‘Zionist billionaires,’ and calls for violence and disruption at any cost,” Rosenbury wrote. “They claim Columbia University’s name, but the truth is, because their members wear masks, no one really knows whose interests they serve. “
In the wake of the Barnard incident, New York Congressman Ritchie Torres renewed calls to New York Governor Kathy Hochul to legislate mask bans to counter activists concealing their identities.
“The State of New York can no longer stand by idly and allow masked mobs to orchestrate hostile takeovers of college campuses,” Torres said on social media on Friday. “There should be zero tolerance for the kind of violence and vandalism we saw at Barnard College.”
Wendsday protests
The Wednesday protests had called for the revocation of expulsions for two Barnard students who had participated in the January 21 disruption of a Columbia Israeli history class. A Columbia student was suspended interim and is under investigation for their involvement.
The US Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism announced Friday that it would visit 10 American campuses, including Columbia, to investigate allegations that the institutions failed to protect Jewish students and faculty members from discrimination.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.