The acting president of Columbia University strongly denounced the occupation of the campus library on Wednesday after more than 100 anti-Israel agitators stormed it, resulting in dozens arrested and two university officers injured.
Claire Shipman issued a statement to the campus community on Wednesday night addressing the hours-long incident at Butler Library, which she described as “utterly unacceptable.”
A mob of protesters showed up at the library Wednesday afternoon, as students were studying for finals, reportedly to rally support for detained Mahmoud Khalil, the accused ringleader of pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia. They also continued to demand the university divest from Israel.
Two groups caused “substantial chaos” and damaged the campus building while occupying one of the library’s main reading rooms and breaching the building’s front door, Shipman said, adding that the disruption left the university with “no choice” but to call the NYPD for assistance.
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“These actions not only represented a violation of University policies, but they also posed a serious risk to our students and campus safety,” Shipman said, in part.
Columbia’s acting president said she went to the library “as the events were unfolding” and was disappointed with what she saw, including one Columbia public safety officer being wheeled out on a gurney and another being treated for injuries.
Shipman also said the reading room at the library was “defaced and damaged in disturbing ways and with disturbing slogans.”
“Violence and vandalism, hijacking a library—none of that has any place on our campus. These aren’t Columbia’s values,” she said.
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Shipman, who took over in March following the resignation of the former president and the stepping down of the subsequent interim president, said this behavior will not be tolerated at Columbia.
“Let me be clear: Columbia unequivocally rejects antisemitism and all other forms of harassment and discrimination. And we certainly reject a group of students—and we don’t yet know whether there were outsiders involved—closing down a library in the middle of the week before finals and forcing 900 students out of their study spaces, many leaving belongings behind,” she said.
She also praised the response from professors, campus police and NYPD officers, describing their attempts to defuse the situation as “orderly, professional, and extremely limited, with a focus on the students who refused to leave the reading room.”
Columbia is in the middle of its designated “study days” ahead of final examinations beginning on Friday, according to its academic calendar, and Shipman said she is “heartbroken and incensed” that this caused “unnecessary stress and danger” for those studying in the library.
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“I have seen how much our community wants to take back our narrative, to do what they came to Columbia to do—learn, thrive, and grow—not take over a library,” she said. “Moreover, I am deeply disturbed at the idea that, at a moment when our international community feels particularly vulnerable, a small group of students would choose to make our institution a target.”
Shipman said the “clear line between legitimate protest and actions that endanger others and disrupt” the university’s operations was crossed on Wednesday and she is confident “disciplinary proceedings will reflect the severity of the actions.”
The protest prompted a response from NYC Mayor Eric Adams, who said the city stands with Jewish New Yorkers, which includes the Jewish student population at Columbia.
“To those protesting on campus who do not attend Columbia: exit the campus immediately or you will be arrested,” Adams said. We will not tolerate hate or violence in any form in our city.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told Fox News that the agency was monitoring arrests made at the protest and said all suspects were to be fingerprinted to determine if any are noncitizens.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio reiterated that sentiment late Wednesday night, writing on X, “We are reviewing the visa status of the trespassers and vandals who took over Columbia University’s library. Pro-Hamas thugs are no longer welcome in our great nation.”
Columbia University has been a prominent location for anti-Israel protests since Hamas launched its attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, leading to clashes between pro-Hamas and pro-Israel groups and major criticism of the raging antisemitism on campus.
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