Columbia University fails to discipline students who took over campus with pro-Hamas protests, encampment: Report

A recent House report revealed that Columbia University has failed to discipline the vast majority of students who participated in the disruptive pro-Hamas protests that took over the school's campus.

The Committee on Education & the Workforce issued a press release Monday that claimed Columbia University has not expelled any of the students responsible for the volatile demonstrations and encampment takeover in April.

'Columbia has waved the white flag in surrender while offering up a get-out-of-jail-free card to those who participated in these unlawful actions.'

According to information provided by Columbia University to the committee, 40 students were arrested by New York Police Department officers on April 18 for allegedly participating in the unauthorized encampment. The police ultimately dropped the charges. The university allowed 18 of the students to remain in "good standing" in exchange for signing an "alternative resolution." As of early August, 38 were in good standing, with some waiting for a hearing and others on conditional disciplinary probation.

On April 29, 35 students were initially placed on interim suspension after they were accused of refusing to leave the makeshift encampment despite multiple warnings from the university, the panel analysis found. However, those suspensions were lifted for 29 students, and charges were dismissed, citing "not enough information to substantiate participation." Thirty-one of the students who were accused of participating are in good standing with the university.

Only four of the 22 students who were arrested on April 30 after locking themselves inside Hamilton Hall are "not in good standing" with the university, the report read. Three of those students are facing interim suspension, and one is "currently on disciplinary probation from a prior hearing."

On May 1, the NYPD arrested 27 students at various locations around campus, but all of the cases were later dismissed, citing "insufficient evidence," according to the committee's report. Those cases did not impact the students' standing with the school.

Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) stated, "The failure of Columbia's invertebrate administration to hold accountable students who violate university rules and break the law is disgraceful and unacceptable."

"More than three months after the criminal takeover of Hamilton Hall, the vast majority of the student perpetrators remain in good standing," she continued. "By allowing its own disciplinary process to be thwarted by radical students and faculty, Columbia has waved the white flag in surrender while offering up a get-out-of-jail-free card to those who participated in these unlawful actions."

"Breaking into campus buildings or creating antisemitic hostile environments like the encampment should never be given a single degree of latitude — the university's willingness to do just that is reprehensible," Foxx added.

A Columbia University spokesperson told the New York Post that the school "is committed to combating antisemitism and all forms of discrimination and taking sustained, concrete action toward a campus where everyone in our community feels valued and is able to thrive."

"Following the disruptions of the last academic year, Columbia immediately began disciplinary processes, including with immediate suspensions. The disciplinary process is ongoing for many students involved in these disruptions, including some of those who were arrested, and we have been working to expedite the process for this large volume of violations," the spokesperson said.

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