A Columbia student and negotiator for the on-campus encampment in support of Gaza on Monday said the university was “refusing to be flexible” in negotiations to end the demonstration while threatening students with disciplinary action.
“The university has conducted itself with obstinacy and arrogance, refusing to be flexible on some of our most basic points. That said, we were engaging in good-faith negotiations until the administration cut them off under threat of suspensions,” Sueda Polat said. “Where we asked for amnesty, they gave us more discipline.”
The student organizer slammed the university for reportedly threatening disciplinary actions if protestors did not leave the encampment by 2 p.m. Polat said the university offered students one of two untenable choices: Sign a waiver confirming their participation in the encampment and go on probation until 2025 or until their graduation, or be suspended.
Polat warned that students are at risk of “losing access to their housing, losing access to campus, losing access to health care on campus, and losing their right to graduation if they are a graduating student.”
“Essentially, these are attempts to stifle the student movement,” Polat added.
Protesters have vowed to keep their encampment on the Manhattan campus until Columbia meets their three demands: divesting funds from Israel, transparency in Columbia’s finances, and amnesty for students and faculty disciplined for taking part in the protests.
