February 26, 2025

Dozens of protesters staged a sit-in outside Barnard Dean Leslie Grinage’s office in Milbank Hall the afternoon of Wednesday calling for the “immediate reversal” of two student expulsions. The protesters dispersed at around 10:30 p.m. with a tentative agreement to meet with Grinage and Barnard President Laura Rosenbury on Thursday.

Protesters spent over six hours in Milbank, demanding that Grinage meet with them publicly and “accept the appeals of our expelled students.” They demanded that all Columbia and Barnard students involved in the sit-in receive amnesty and that the University not pursue disciplinary action for the sit-in.

Columbia University Apartheid Divest wrote in a Wednesday Instagram post that the protesters were demanding Barnard “reverse the expulsions” of two Barnard students whom CUAD wrote had been expelled for their participation in the Jan. 21 disruption of the class History of Modern Israel.

A flyer posted on the wall inside Milbank addressed to Grinage and Rosenbury listed four demands, including an “immediate reversal of the two Barnard students’ expulsions,” “amnesty for all students disciplined for pro-Palestine action or thought,” “a public meeting” with Rosenbury and Grinage, and “abolition of the corrupt Barnard disciplinary process and complete transparency” for disciplinary proceedings.

“Today, we are here to demand Dean Grinage accept the appeals of our expelled students, REINSTATING THEM IMMEDIATELY and ABOLISHING THE CARCERAL DISCIPLINARY SYSTEM,” CUAD’s statement on Instagram read.

As of Thursday, over 110,000 people have signed letters to the Barnard administration demanding that the expulsions be reversed.

“We have taken the administration completely off guard! They will have no peace until we have justice,” the caption of CUAD’s Instagram post on Wednesday read.

Shortly after the protest started, a Barnard employee closed the main entrance to Milbank.

“We will be hosting democratic assemblies regularly throughout the sit-in for collective decision making,” the Wednesday CUAD post read. “This space is ours as long as we’re here, take back our university.”

Protesters spelled out “For Hind” with masking tape on the door of the dean’s office. In April 2024, protesters occupied Hamilton Hall and called it “Hind’s Hall” after Hind Rajab, a six-year-old Palestinian girl killed by the Israeli military in January 2024.

Barnard told faculty members who had classes in Milbank after 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday to either cancel or relocate, according to an email sent to faculty obtained by Spectator.

Throughout the sit-in, protesters pasted stickers and taped up papers and pictures on the wall. “We will burn it all down for our students,” “Long live Hind’s Hall,” and “Dean Grinage is a fascist” were some of the many messages written on the walls using markers and paint pens.

Protesters also covered up cameras with masking tape, which Community Accountability, Response, and Emergency Services responders removed at around 8 p.m.

An organizer announced to the group that the protesters asked administrators to meet with them and are demanding a public meeting. According to the same organizer, administrators asked “for two to three people to come in.” Negotiators said that if the administration only offers a private meeting, the group will vote on whether to take it.

Kristina Milnor, a professor of classics at Barnard, told protesters at 5:20 p.m. that Grinage was “happy to meet” with protesters under the condition that she met with a maximum of three “unmasked and uncovered” Barnard students, who would act as negotiators. Milnor was the first of three faculty members who liaised between the protesters and the administration during the sit-in.

Milnor laid out other conditions from Grinage, telling the group that the dean wanted to see Barnard IDs for the student negotiators. Milnor also told the protesters that Grinage would meet with demonstrators if she had a witness and a public safety officer present and no legal observers present. Milnor said Grinage did not want the meeting to be video recorded or posted on social media.

CARES is Barnard’s campus safety department.

After Milnor’s presentation of the college’s demands, the protesters discussed among themselves what their conditions would be. They decided that having a legal observer present was “nonnegotiable” and were willing to negotiate as long as the Barnard student negotiators involved had pre-approved amnesty. Amnesty for Columbia students present was discussed as well. Protesters agreed to not video record the meeting.

At around 6:30 p.m., a protester responded to Grinage’s conditions through a new liaison for the administration, Nara Milanich, professor of history at Barnard, who had taken over for Milnor. The protester said that a CARES responder could be at the meeting as long as the officer did not touch or record any of the protesters.

The protester said that any video footage from Wednesday recorded by CARES responders must be deleted as a condition of the meeting.

The protester said that there should be no New York Police Department presence at the sit-in. The protesters agreed they would not publish any video recordings of the meeting as long as students were able to audio record but not publish the recordings, as well as provide testimonials and transcripts of the meeting.

The protesters demanded that all Columbia and Barnard students involved in the sit-in receive amnesty, including the negotiators, and that Barnard not pursue disciplinary action for the sit-in. The protesters told Milanich that the three Barnard student representatives would speak with the dean, but demanded a public meeting, with the negotiation “in front of everyone.”

The protesters said they agreed to only send Barnard students as representatives as long as there were no required ID checks.

Several pro-Israel counterprotesters gathered outside Milbank and attempted to enter the building as early as 5:30 p.m. They knocked on the front door of Milbank, but did not gain access to the building.

Some of the counterprotesters remained outside of Milbank for the duration of the sit-in.

At 8:34 p.m., Barnard condemned the protesters who staged the sit-in in a statement.

“Earlier today, a small group of masked protesters forcibly entered Milbank Hall and physically assaulted a Barnard employee, sending them to the hospital,” Robin Levine, Barnard’s vice president for strategic communications, wrote. “They encouraged others to enter campus without identification, showing blatant disregard for the safety of our community.”

An NYPD spokesperson told Spectator that the police had a report on file for an assault “in the vicinity” of 606 W. 120th Street—the address of Milbank—at around 4:09 p.m.

A 41-year-old male sustained minor injuries and was taken to Mount Sinai Morningside hospital, the spokesperson said. As of 9:38 p.m., there had been no arrests related to the incident and the investigation was ongoing.

“I saw the guard putting his arms around a student and twisting until a student fell to the ground,” a protester told Spectator. “It was people trying to help that student, that is how that guard got injured.”

Levine wrote in the statement that the college did not “know if all individuals involved are members of the Barnard community.”

“If they do not agree to leave the building by 9:30 PM, Barnard will be forced to consider additional, necessary measures to protect our campus,” Levine wrote.

Levine wrote that the college has “made multiple good-faith efforts to de-escalate.”

“Barnard leadership offered to meet with the protesters – just as we meet with all members of our community – on one simple condition: remove their masks. They refused. We have also offered mediation,” Levine wrote.

Barnard distributed notices to protesters before they dispersed, outlining the ways in which the students had violated Barnard’s rules and policies, according to a photo posted by Bwog in the evening.

“You are in violation of College rules and policies, including but not limited to Barnard’s Rules for the Maintenance of Public Order, Barnard’s Temporary Policy for Safe Campus Demonstrations, Barnard’s Posting Policy, the Barnard Code of Conduct,” the notice read.

The notice read that if Barnard students did not leave the building, they would be “subject to disciplinary action.” Barnard wrote that if the protesters left before 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday, it would not pursue disciplinary action for protesters’ presence in the building.

At least nine NYPD Strategic Response Group vans were parked on Riverside Drive between 120th and 122nd Street at around 10 p.m. Some NYPD officers began walking up Broadway with zip ties at around 10:20 p.m.

“This ship has sailed for tonight,” a Barnard campus safety officer told the group a few minutes before 10:30 p.m. “You’re gonna have five minutes to exit the building, okay, so whatever you have to do to make arrangements for tomorrow’s conversation, that’s on you folks.”

The two parties tentatively agreed to a private Thursday meeting at 1 p.m. between three Barnard students, Grinage, and Rosenbury.

At around 10:40 p.m., protesters walked down 120th Street to Riverside Drive, holding signs that read “Free Gaza” and chanting “from the sea to the river, Palestine will live forever.” NYPD officers followed the protesters, though they dispersed at 10:52 p.m., agreeing to meet at 12:45 p.m. the next day to picket at Barnard’s gates.

Barnard restricted campus access to only Barnard ID holders Thursday early morning in an email from Rosenbury.

Beginning Thursday at 8 a.m., Barnard will “transition campus access to Level C.” The 117th Street and Broadway gate will be the sole main entry point onto Barnard’s campus, and will only be open to students with a Barnard ID, according to the email. IDs will be required for building access.

Source: Columbia Spectator