Most Columbia Students Who Protested in Spring Remain in ‘Good Standing’

Columbia University has disciplined few students involved with the spring encampments and the occupation of Hamilton Hall, according to a report turned over to the House Education and Workforce Committee. 

The Republican-led panel has been investigating antisemitism at Columbia for months. The report released Monday stems from a sweeping request for university documents issued earlier this year that included records about antisemitic incidents, disciplinary decisions and internal communications. In early August, the committee threatened to subpoena Columbia in order to compel the university to release certain records, particularly those related to student disciplinary cases.

The report details actions taken in response to eight incidents from April 18 to June 2 and includes the current status of students involved in them. For example, of the 22 students who allegedly entered and subsequently occupied Hamilton Hall, 18 are in good standing, three are on interim suspension and one is on disciplinary probation. Further disciplinary actions should still be forthcoming. The university paused its discipline process after students’ attorneys challenged the evidence and the process, according to the report. Interviews with the students who were allegedly involved were expected to begin this month, while the university judicial board’s review will continue into the fall semester.

In another incident, the university initially placed 35 students on interim suspensions when they failed to leave an encampment following official warnings to do so. But the university lifted the suspensions and dismissed the charges for most of those students because officials couldn’t substantiate their participation in the encampment. Four students were either put on disciplinary probation or suspended. 

A Columbia University spokesperson said in a statement that the university is committed to combating antisemitism.

“Following the disruptions of the last academic year, Columbia immediately began disciplinary processes, including with immediate suspensions,” the spokesperson said. “The disciplinary process is ongoing for many students involved in these disruptions, including some of those who were arrested, and we have been working to expedite the process for this large volume of violations.”

But for Representative Virginia Foxx, the North Carolina Republican who chairs the House committee, the documents show a failure to hold students accountable. 

“By allowing its own disciplinary process to be thwarted by radical students and faculty, Columbia has waved the white flag in surrender while offering up a get-out-of-jail-free card to those who participated in these unlawful actions,” Foxx said. “Breaking into campus buildings or creating antisemitic hostile environments like the encampment should never be given a single degree of latitude—the university’s willingness to do just that is reprehensible.”