Columbia University Suspends Fully In-Person Classes For The Rest Of The School Year Amid Anti-Israel Protests

On Tuesday, Columbia University announced that the remainder of the school year, lasting till mid-May, will no longer include fully in-person classes at the nearly $70,000 a year Ivy League. The announcement comes after the school was forced to switch to remote classes on Monday after anti-Israel protesters occupied the campus. 

"All faculty whose classrooms are located on the main Morningside campus and equipped with hybrid capabilities should enable them to provide virtual learning options to students who need such a learning modality. Faculty in other classrooms or teaching spaces that do not have capabilities for offering hybrid options should hold classes remotely if there are student requests for virtual participation," a memo to faculty and staff reads. "If the class does not permit adapting to the remote offering format, we encourage faculty to provide other accommodations liberally to students who have requested support for virtual learning this week."

"It’s vital that teaching and learning continue during this time. We recognize conditions vary across our campuses and thus are issuing the following guidelines," Columbia Provost Angela Olinto and Chief Operating Officer Cas Holloway wrote in a statement.

The demonstrators, many of whom are sleeping in tents at the Morningside Campus, could be heard shouting blatantly anti-Jewish slogans, including, "Al-Qassam, you make us proud! Take another soldier out! We say justice; you say how? Burn Tel Aviv to the ground! Hamas, we love you. We support your rockets, too! Red, black, green, and white, we support Hamas' fight! It is right to rebel, Al-Qassam, give them hell! It is right to rebel, Hamas give them hell! Free, free, free Palestine!" Footage from the campus also showed the protesters telling Jewish students to "go back to Poland" and calling for the students, who were called "pigs," to be killed.

In response to the protests, the university initially brought in the NYPD to arrest 108 demonstrators who refused to leave the campus on Thursday. However, the protesters returned, and Columbia President Minouche Shafik refused to bring in the police again to clear the protesters. Columbia University announced on Sunday that they have more than doubled its safety personnel, improved ID checks, and increased security around the Kraft Center for Jewish Student Life, per National Review.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft, whom the Jewish center is named after, issued a statement on Monday that explained that he would no longer be donating to Columbia due to the ongoing protests. "It was through the full academic scholarship Columbia gave me that I was able to attend college and start in life, and for that, I have been tremendously grateful. However, the school I love so much - the one that welcomed me and provided me with so much opportunity - is no longer an institution I recognize," Kraft wrote. "I am deeply saddened at the virulent hate that continues to grow on campus and throughout our country. I am no longer confident that Columbia can protect its students and staff, and I am not comfortable supporting the university until corrective action is taken."

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