Some U.S. universities called in police to break up demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war, resulting in ugly scuffles and dozens of arrests, while others appeared content to wait out student protests Thursday, as the final days of the semester ticked down and graduation ceremonies loomed.
Student protest have popped up on an increasing number of college campuses following last week’s arrest of more than 100 demonstrators at Columbia University.
The students are calling for universities to separate themselves from any companies that are advancing Israel’s military efforts in Gaza — and in some cases from Israel itself.
Protests on many campuses have been orchestrated by coalitions of student groups and largely act independently, though students say they’re inspired by peers at other universities.
Although many students will soon leave for the summer break, school officials worry that any ongoing protests could disrupt May commencement ceremonies, while some Jewish students say the protests have veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus.
Here is a look at the protests, and response to the demonstrations, on some U.S. campuses in recent days.
Columbia set stage for national protests
Protesters set up a tent encampment at the Ivy League university in New York last week.
A group of negotiators representing the protesters has been meeting intermittently with university administrators since Friday to discuss their demands, which include cutting financial ties with Israel and the companies involved in the war in Gaza, as well as amnesty for students and staff facing discipline for participating in the protests.
Those talks broke down on Tuesday night, according to the lead negotiator, Mahmoud Khalil, after he said the university threatened to send in police and the National Guard if the encampment wasn’t gone by midnight.
Hundreds of students and faculty quickly packed onto the lawn in the largest numbers since the start of the demonstration.
Overnight, the university backtracked, giving demonstrators a 48-hour extension if the group agreed to block non-students from the encampment and remove a certain number of tents.
A spokesperson later denied that the university had suggested calling the National Guard.
While there have been confrontations and allegations of antisemitic activity outside the university’s gates, police described students inside the encampment as peaceful and compliant.
Police first tried to clear the encampment last Thursday, when they arrested more than 100 protesters.
But the move backfired, acting as an inspiration for other students across the country and motivating protesters at Columbia to regroup.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson visited Columbia on Wednesday to meet with Jewish students over concerns about antisemitism on college campuses. Johnson said Israel and Jewish students on campus will not stand alone.
Emory protest entwined with ‘Cop City’ activism
Atlanta police and Georgia state troopers dismantled a camp on Emory University’s quadrangle Thursday morning, with Associated Press journalists counting at least 17 people detained.
When officers in tactical gear began detaining people, some submitted, but others physically pushed back.
Those who were detained were handcuffed with zip ties and loaded into a police transport van. Video shows officers at least once used an electrical stun gun on a protester who was handcuffed on the ground.
Officers deployed rubber bullets and tear gas to break apart pro-Palestinian protests at Emory University in Atlanta. Protesters were seen struggling against officers’ attempts to wrestle them to the ground and multiple people were detained by law enforcement.
University police had ordered several dozen demonstrators who set up tents on the campus early Thursday morning to leave, according to Emory spokesperson Laura Diamond.
She said in an email to The Associated Press that the group “trespassed” onto the private school.
“These individuals are not members of our community,” Diamond said. “They are activists attempting to disrupt our university as our students finish classes and prepare for finals.”
A long line of officers surrounded the encampment of about three dozen tents after 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, as protesters chanted slogans supporting Palestinians and opposing a public safety training centre being built in Atlanta.
The two movements are closely entwined in Atlanta, where there has been years of “Stop Cop City” activism that has included a fringe of anarchist attacks on property and the killing by state troopers of a protester who was occupying the site.
Police, protesters face off at University of Texas
The University of Texas campus was much calmer on Thursday, a day after a demonstration saw police and state troopers in riot gear and on horseback make dozens of arrests and forced hundreds of students off the school’s main lawn.
On Thursday, university officials pulled back the campus barricades and allowed another demonstration on the main square underneath the school’s iconic clock tower in central campus.
While the group was vocal with chants and angry shouts against Israel and campus leadership, the demonstration was far less volatile.
No violence erupted as a small group of campus police watched from the steps of the tower building.
But on Wednesday, officers at the University of Texas at Austin aggressively detained dozens of protesters.
Hundreds of local and state police — including some on horseback and holding batons — bulldozed into protesters, at one point sending some tumbling into the street.
Officers pushed their way into the crowd and made 34 arrests at the behest of the university and Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott, according to the state Department of Public Safety.
Dane Urquhart, a third-year Texas student, called the police presence and arrests an “overreaction,” adding that the protest “would have stayed peaceful” if the officers had not turned out in force.
“Because of all the arrests, I think a lot more [demonstrations] are going to happen,” Urquhart said.
In a statement Wednesday night, the university’s president, Jay Hartzell, said: “Our rules matter, and they will be enforced. Our University will not be occupied.”
After days of unrest on campus, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson denounced pro-Palestinian protesters camped out at Columbia University, accusing them of antisemitism and calling on the school’s president to restore order or resign.
USC cancels graduation event amid protests
The University of Southern California cancelled its main stage graduation ceremony Thursday as college officials across the U.S. worried that ongoing campus protests against the Israel-Hamas war could disrupt May commencement ceremonies.
USC announced the cancellation of the May 10 ceremony a day after more than 90 protesters were arrested on campus Wednesday night for trespassing, while one person was arrested for alleged assault with a deadly weapon.
The university says it will still host dozens of commencement events, including all the traditional individual school commencement ceremonies where students cross a stage and receive their diplomas.
Tensions were already high after the university cancelled a planned commencement speech by the school’s pro-Palestinian valedictorian, citing safety concerns.
Northwestern changes rules to block encampments
Northwestern University hastily changed its student code of conduct Thursday morning to bar tents on its suburban Chicago campus as anti-war student activists set up an encampment similar to Pro-Palestinian demonstrations at colleges nationwide.
Groups including Jewish Voice for Peace and Educators for Justice in Palestine said the encampment on the Evanston, Ill., campus was “a safe space for those who want to show their support of the Palestinian people.”
Dozens participated as University President Michael Schill issued an email saying the university had enacted an “interim addendum” to its student code to bar tents, among other things, and warned of disciplinary actions including suspension, expulsion and criminal charges.
“The goal of this addendum is to balance the right to peacefully demonstrate with our goal to protect our community, to avoid disruptions to instruction and to ensure university operations can continue unabated,” Schilling said.
No arrests had been made by Thursday mid-afternoon.
The swell of anti-war protests and encampments on U.S. campuses has lead to multiple arrests as police and institutions crack down fearing for student safety.
