Columbia initially suspended six students on Wednesday night, but lifted two suspensions on Thursday.
Columbia indefinitely suspended four students and gave them 24 hours’ notice of eviction from University housing on Wednesday night for their alleged involvement in an unauthorized March 24 “Resistance 101” event, according to a document obtained by Spectator and interviews with affected students.
The University initially suspended six students and notified them of eviction, but lifted sanctions on two students on Thursday, a Columbia College sophomore whose suspension was lifted told Spectator. The sophomore said he was not involved in organizing nor did he attend the event, but lives in the residence hall where the panel was held.
In a document from the Center for Student Success and Intervention obtained by Spectator, a suspended student received preliminary charges of disruptive behavior, endangerment, violation of law, violation of University policy, and “failure to comply.” The student was sanctioned with an “interim” suspension, making them unable to participate in classes and extracurriculars or enter campus without prior arrangements through public safety.
The charges pertain to violations of the Center for Student Success and Intervention’s “Standards and Discipline,” which were included in the document sent to the student.
“You may remain in your Columbia residence for 24 hours after which time your access to your residence and dining services will also be suspended,” the document reads.
Chief Operating Officer Cas Holloway announced on March 28 that the University “engaged an outside firm led by experienced former law enforcement investigators to conduct an investigation” into the “Resistance 101” event.
The “Resistance 101” event featured Khaled Barakat, who is allegedly a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which has been designated by the United States as a terrorist organization. Barakat has denied any affiliation with the organization. Holloway wrote in his statement that the University “immediately notified law enforcement” and “banned the outside speakers from campus.”
University President Minouche Shafik released a statement on Friday, writing “for the record that this event is an abhorrent breach of our values” and confirming that students were suspended for their alleged participation in the panel following an investigation by an outside firm. The investigation is ongoing.
“I did not become a university president to punish students,” Shafik wrote. “At the same time, actions like this on our campus must have consequences. That I would ever have to declare the following is in itself surprising, but I want to make clear that it is absolutely unacceptable for any member of this community to promote the use of terror or violence.”
Shafik also wrote that the University is in the process of identifying students involved in a Thursday “All Out for Al-Shifa” solidarity protest organized by Columbia University Apartheid Divest and Student Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers. Those students “will face discipline under our policies,” Shafik wrote.
“Columbia is making us homeless, taking away our campus jobs, our sole source of income, taking away our scholarships, our access to dining halls, our access to classrooms and education that we have earned,” one student speaker said at a Thursday “All Out for Al-Shifa” solidarity protest organized by Columbia University Apartheid Divest and Student Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers. The student was one of the four suspended and evicted from Columbia housing.
On Tuesday morning, students began receiving emails from Holloway alerting them that they had been “identified as an individual involved in organizing, planning, promoting, hosting and/or attending this unsanctioned and unapproved event,” according to one such email obtained by Spectator. Holloway gave the students until 5 p.m. on Tuesday to contact the private investigator assigned to the case “to be interviewed in connection with this matter” or else “face immediate disciplinary action.”
“I stand before you today as one of the six Columbia students unjustly and inhumanely suspended from Columbia as of 8 p.m. last night,” the student speaker said. “I received 24-hour notice that I, a full-scholarship, federal-work-study receiving student with disabilities and housing accommodation, will be evicted from my University housing. This was all done with no hearing and no semblance of due process. Shame on Columbia.”
Columbia released its revised interim demonstration policy on Feb. 19, restricting protests to the South Lawn and Sundial from noon to 6 p.m on weekdays and prohibiting student groups and their individual members from advertising demonstrations before they are approved.
Ahead of the Thursday protest, Holloway emailed dozens of student leaders of groups involved with CUAD, stating the University was aware of the demonstration. Holloway wrote that the University had not received a request to register the event within two working days, violating Columbia’s interim demonstration policy.
Update: This article has been updated to include more accurate language describing Barakat’s alleged involvement in PLFP, including that he has denied any affiliation.