Talks aimed at having encampment removed voluntarily break down as president insists school won’t bow to divestment demands
Pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University have been given an ultimatum to abandon their encampment or risk suspension, after the breakdown of talks aimed at having it removed voluntarily.
The ultimatum, setting a Monday deadline of 2pm, came after the university’s president, Minouche Shafik, announced that efforts to reach a compromise with protest organisers had failed. She insisted that the institution would not bow to demands to divest from Israel.
“It is important for you to know that the university has already identified many students in the encampment,” a letter written on university notepaper and headed ‘Notice to Encampment read. “If you do not leave by 2pm, you will be suspended pending further investigation.”
It added: “If you voluntarily leave by 2pm, identify yourself to a university officials, and sign the provided form where you commit to abide by all university policies through June 30, 2025, or the date of the conferral of your degree, whichever is earlier, you will be eligible to complete the semester in good standing.”
Columbia’s New York campus has become the centre of a spate of college protests across the US against Israel’s six-month war in Gaza, that has led to the death of more than 34,000 Palestinians, the displacement of hundreds of thousands more and brought the coastal territory to the brink of famine.
