Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
Students at New York City’s Columbia University went to class remotely yesterday, after a week of campus protests – and arguably its own missteps – led the college’s administration to move classes temporarily online. Last Thursday, Minouche Shafik, the university’s president, called in the New York Police Department to remove and arrest around 100 pro-Palestine students who had set up tents on the main lawn. But clearing the encampment generated more attention, and now the protest is attracting interest from people unaffiliated with the university, some of whom seem to be more aggressive – and their rhetoric more offensive – than the reportedly peaceful student protesters. Shafik acted after giving testimony to Congress about the university’s efforts to counter antisemitism on campus.