New York.- As students begin to return to classes across the United States, colleges are anticipating a resurgence of activism against the war in Gaza, with some adopting rules to limit the kind of protests that rocked institutions in the spring.
While the summer break offered a respite from protests, it also gave both protesters and administrators a chance to regroup and discuss strategies ahead of the start of school in the fall.
The stakes are high. At Columbia University in New York, where a wave of pro-Palestinian encampments began, President Minouche Shafik resigned Wednesday after coming under intense scrutiny for her handling of the uprisings. Her resignation came just days after the institution confirmed that three deans had resigned following reports that they exchanged derogatory texts during a university forum on Jewish life and anti-Semitism at the university.
Some of the new rules passed by universities include a ban on camping, limits on the length of a protest, allowing demonstrations only in designated spaces and restricting campus access to those with university IDs. Critics say some measures violate freedom of speech.
At Harvard University, a draft document obtained by the student newspaper over the summer shows the institution was considering banning overnight camping, chalk messages and unapproved signs.
Many student protesters in the United States have vowed to continue their activism, fueled by the rising death toll in Gaza, which on Thursday surpassed 40,000 according to the territory’s health ministry.
Tensions have been running high since Oct. 7, when militants from the Palestinian group Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 hostage.
Mahmoud Khalil, one of the leaders of the Columbia protests, said he fully expects protests to continue into the fall, including encampments.
“As long as Columbia continues to invest in and profit from Israeli apartheid, students will continue their activism in many different ways,” he said.
He added that about 50 students still face disciplinary action for the spring protests after a mediation process stalled. He blamed the Columbia administration for the impasse.
“The university loves to pretend it is engaging with students, but these are all missteps intended to appease donors and its political class,” said Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia’s School of International Studies.
The university has not responded to messages seeking comment.
The university, located in upper Manhattan and one of the most prestigious in the country, was rocked by protests in the spring, culminating in scenes of police with light handcuffs and shields storming a building that had been taken over by pro-Palestinian protesters. Protests erupted at other universities, many of which degenerated into violence with police and more than 3,000 arrests.
Many of the arrested students have had their charges dropped, but others are still awaiting prosecutors’ decisions. Some have already had their academic careers upended by suspensions, withheld diplomas and other disciplinary measures.
Shafik was among the university leaders called to Congress in the spring. She was sharply criticized by Republicans who accused her of not doing enough to address concerns about anti-Semitism at Columbia.
He announced his resignation in an email to the university community just weeks before classes begin on Sept. 3. The university on Monday began restricting access to campus to people with university IDs or registered guests, saying it wanted to avoid “potential disruption” as the new semester approaches.
“This period has had a significant effect on my family, as it has on others in the community,” Shafik wrote in his letter. “Over the summer, I have been able to reflect and have decided that stepping away at this time would be best to allow Columbia to meet the challenges ahead.”
Columbia’s board of trustees announced that Katrina Armstrong, CEO of Columbia University Irving Medical Center, will serve as interim president.
Pro-Palestinian protesters began setting up camp on Columbia’s campus during Shafik’s mid-April impeachment, when she denounced anti-Semitism but faced criticism over how she responded to faculty and students accused of bias.
The university called in police to clear the camp the next day, but the students returned and inspired a wave of similar protests at other institutions across the country, with students calling on schools to cut ties with Israel and companies that support the war.
Even after the campers were cleared, Columbia decided to cancel its collective graduation ceremony, instead allowing smaller ceremonies by each faculty separately.
The campus was mostly quiet over the summer, but a conservative news outlet in June published images of what it said were text messages exchanged by administrators on May 31 during a forum titled “Jewish Life on Campus: Past, Present and Future.”
The administrators were removed from their positions, and on July 8, Shafik said in a letter to the university community that the messages were unprofessional and “disturbingly reminiscent of long-standing anti-Semitic stereotypes.”
Shafik’s critics rejoiced at the end of his presidency, one of the shortest in the university’s history.
Other female university leaders have resigned in recent months, largely over their response to volatile protests on their campuses.
University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill resigned in December after less than two years on the job. She faced pressure from donors and criticism for her remarks before Congress, where she failed to say under repeated questioning that calls for genocide of Jews violated university policy.
And in January, Harvard University President Claudine Gay resigned amid plagiarism allegations and similar criticism over her testimony before Congress.
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