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Tag: Barnard

alleged assault of public safety officer

Posted on by neversleep

The Transport Workers Union condemned student protesters from Wednesday’s Barnard sit-in for allegedly injuring a public safety responder and Barnard for “consistently ignoring officers’ safety concerns.”

TWU’s statement, titled “TWU Blasts Barnard Protesters, Criticizes College,” described a 41-year-old officer, who is represented by TWU Local 264, being “pushed and shoved during the stampede” as protesters entered Milbank Hall at 4 p.m.

A New York Police Department spokesperson told Spectator Wednesday night that the department had a report on file for an assault at around 4:09 p.m. “in the vicinity of” 606 W. 120th Street—Milbank’s address. As of 4:43 p.m. Thursday, no arrests had been made for the assault, an NYPD spokesperson told Spectator.

“He was pinned by the rushing crowd against a beam separating the two doors,” the TWU wrote in its statement. “One protester lowered his shoulder and slammed into the worker like a linebacker.”

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Protesters stage sit-in outside Barnard dean’s office

Posted on by neversleep

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.

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Barnard expels students for class disruption, pro-Palestinian protest

Posted on by neversleep

February 24, 2025

Barnard college, an affiliate of Columbia University in New York, reportedly expelled two students last week for disrupting a session of the class “History of Modern Israel.”

The Barnard students, both seniors in their last semester of undergraduate studies, banged on drums while chanting “free Palestine” and distributed flyers with the phrase “CRUSH ZIONISM” and a depiction of a boot over the Star of David, according to [news source].

A Columbia University student was also involved in the protest and has since been suspended and barred from campus, the university said in a press release last month.

The history course is being run by Columbia, and the disturbance occurred on the first day of spring semester classes for both schools, according to the student group Columbia University Apartheid Divest.

The pro-Palestinian coalition criticized the expulsions in a statement posted to X Sunday, calling Barnard’s decision “a serious escalation in the crackdown” against student activism. The group said in their post they plan to hold “a week of action” Monday through Thursday in response.

Columbia University became the epicenter of nationwide protests last spring, during which students built encampments and denounced Israel’s escalating response in its war against Hamas. In one day of demonstrations last April, more than 100 Columbia students were arrested on campus.

More than 50 students from Barnard have been suspended for political protest, according to Columbia University Apartheid Divest.

Found on mainstream news.