Students at a Columbia University camp that inspired a wave of pro-Palestinian demonstrations across the country prepared for its tenth day on Friday, as administrators and police on college campuses from California to Connecticut struggle to figure out how to deal with the protests that saw fights with police and hundreds of arrests.
Officials at Columbia and some other schools have negotiated with student protesters who have rejected police and doubled down. Other schools quickly turned to authorities to quell demonstrations before they could take place. After an encampment of tents appeared Thursday at Indiana University in Bloomington, police with shields and batons rounded up protesters and arrested 33. Hours later, at the University of Connecticut, police tore down a tent and arrested one person.
The clock is ticking as May graduation ceremonies approach, putting additional pressure on schools to eliminate demonstrations. In Columbia, protesters defiantly erected a camp where many are expected to form in front of their families in just a few weeks.
Columbia officials said negotiations were showing progress as they approached the school’s Friday deadline to reach an agreement on dismantling the camp. However, two police buses were parked nearby and there was a noticeable presence of private security and police at the campus entrances.
“We have our demands; they have theirs,” said Ben Chang, a Columbia University spokesman, adding that if negotiations fail, the university will have to consider other options.
California State Polytechnic University Humboldt is negotiating with students who have been barricaded inside a campus since Monday, rejecting a police attempt to free them. Faculty members met with protesters on Thursday to try to negotiate a solution as the campus remains closed through at least the weekend.
Protesters setting up camps at universities across the country are demanding that schools cut financial ties with Israel and divest from companies they say are facilitating the conflict. Some Jewish students say the protests have turned into anti-Semitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus, which in part prompted calls for police intervention.
A Cal Poly Humboldt dean, Jeff Crane, suggested during the meeting with protesters that the university form a committee that includes students to delve deeper into the school’s investments. Crane also suggested that teachers and students continue to meet every 24 hours to maintain an open line of communication. The sides have not yet announced a deal.
On the other side of the state, the University of Southern California announced the cancellation of the school’s May 10 graduation ceremony. The announcement came a day after more than 90 protesters were arrested on campus. The university said it will still host dozens of graduation events, including all traditional individual school graduation ceremonies.
Tensions were already high after USC canceled a planned commencement speech by the school’s pro-Palestinian valedictorian, citing security concerns.
On Thursday at the City College of New York, hundreds of students gathered on the lawn beneath the Harlem campus’ famous Gothic buildings erupted in applause after a small contingent of police officers retreated from the scene. In a corner of the court, “safety training” was carried out among the students.
The Los Angeles Police Department said 93 people were arrested Wednesday night during a protest on campus for alleged trespassing. One person was arrested on charges of assault with a deadly weapon.
At Emerson College in Boston, 108 people were arrested at a camp in an alley on Thursday. The video shows police first warning students in an alley to leave. The students link arms to resist the police, who move forcefully through the crowd and throw some protesters to the ground.
“As the night went on, it became more and more tense. There were just more police everywhere. It felt like we were slowly being pushed and crushed,” said Ocean Muir, a sophomore.
“For me, the scariest moment was holding these umbrellas in case we got tear gas, and hearing them coming, and hearing their boots on the ground, hitting the ground louder than we could sing, and not being able to see a single person,” she said.
Muir said police lifted her by her arms and legs and took her away. Along with other students, Muir was charged Thursday with trespassing and disorderly conduct.
Emerson College leaders warned students that the alley was a public right-of-way, and city officials threatened action if protesters did not leave. Emerson canceled classes on Thursday, and Boston police said four officers suffered non-life-threatening injuries during the confrontation.
The University of Texas at Austin campus was much calmer Thursday after 57 people were arrested and charged with criminal trespassing the day before. University authorities removed barricades and allowed protesters to reach the main square below the school’s iconic clock tower.
Thursday’s gathering of students and some teachers protested the war and Wednesday’s arrests, when state troopers in riot gear and on horseback attacked demonstrators, forcing hundreds of students to abandon the school’s main lawn.
At Emory University in Atlanta, local and state police took action to dismantle a camp. Some officers carried semi-automatic weapons and the video shows officers using a stun gun on a protester they had pinned to the ground. The university said Thursday night in a statement that objects were thrown at officers and they used “chemical irritants” as a crowd control measure.
Jail records showed that 22 people arrested by Emory police were charged with disorderly conduct. Emory said it was notified that 28 people were arrested, including 20 members of the university community, and some were released overnight.
U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said the ability to embrace student voices and different perspectives is a hallmark of the country’s growth, but warned that authorities would not tolerate hate, discrimination or threats of violence.
Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, the U.S. Department of Education has launched civil rights investigations into dozens of universities and schools in response to complaints of anti-Semitism or Islamophobia. Among those under investigation are many colleges facing protests, including Harvard and Columbia.
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Perry reported from Meredith, New Hampshire. Associated Press journalists from multiple locations contributed to this report, including Stefanie Dazio, Kathy McCormack, Jim Vertuno, Acacia Coronado, Sudhin Thanawala, Jeff Amy, Mike Stewart, Collin Binkley, Carolyn Thompson, Jake Offenhartz and Sophia Tareen.
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