Students entered Hamilton Hall early Tuesday morning and began moving furniture and climbing through open windows.
Protesters began occupying buildings at Columbia University early Tuesday morning, after the school asked them the day before to voluntarily disperse from an encampment set up in support of Palestinians.
Protesters began climbing into open windows at John Jay Hall, a dormitory, and students entered Hamilton Hall, an academic building and began moving furniture to a balcony, reported WKCR, the university radio station.
University officials were not immediately available for comment, but its public safety department was actively responding, WKCR said.
The New York Police Department said at about 2:15 a.m. that it had officers stationed outside the university, but not on school grounds, in case the situation escalated. It did not specify the number of officers in the area.
Columbia set several deadlines to reach an agreement with demonstrators about the encampment, as the school said it violates school policies, is a threat to campus safety, a disturbance to Jewish students and students trying to study and sleep.
Yet, no resolution was made to dismantle the tents.
„[Academic leaders and student organizers] in these discussions put forward robust and thoughtful offers and worked in good faith to reach common ground,“ Columbia President Minouche Shafik said Monday.
