Campus unrest
Barnard College, an affiliate of Columbia University, tightened security and limited access to campus on Thursday following a bomb threat and a pro-Palestinian protest that led the NYPD to arrest at least nine people.
🎒 Catch up quick: The unrest began Wednesday when demonstrators staged a sit-in at Barnard’s Milstein Center.
After several hours, a Barnard administrator asked everyone to evacuate due to a bomb threat; many protesters stayed, and police officers moved in to clear the building. They took at least nine people into custody. It’s unclear whether any charges have been filed.
The Student Government Association condemned the arrests, accusing the school of prioritizing “optics over integrity.”
Earlier this week, the Trump administration threatened to pull over $50 million in federal contracts from Columbia and review more than $5 billion in grants, citing concerns over antisemitism on campus.
Last week, pro-Palestinian protesters stormed another Barnard building, injuring a college employee. That demonstration followed the expulsion of two students over a pro-Palestinian classroom protest.
In an op-ed, Barnard President Laura Rosenbury wrote that the expulsions “needed to be done, and we will continue to do so.”
(Sources: Chronicle of Higher Education, Columbia Spectator, Forward, Haaretz, Times of Israel)
Plus… Trump is expected to issue an executive order aimed at eliminating the Education Department, and may sign it as soon as today. The agency serves as the main federal body investigating allegations of campus antisemitism. (Forward, Wall Street Journal)
The Department of Justice is opening an investigation into the University of California system for allegedly discriminating “against employees who are or are perceived to be Jewish or Israeli.” (The Free Press) | 