Columbia University warns Gaza protesters they risk suspension if encampment isn’t cleared: Live updates

Brown University will hear students’ and faculty’s arguments for divestment if the Gaza protesters agree to end their encampment on campus, according to reports.

The university reportedly gave out letters to protesters on Monday offering the comrpromise.

If the encampment “is peacefully brought to an end within the next few days and is not replaced with any other encampments or unauthorized protest activity,” the “Corporation of Brown University will invite five students representing the current encampment activity and a small group of faculty members to speak with a similarly sized group of Corporation members about their arguments for divestment,” the letter says.

Students will reportedly meet with the administration today at 3pm to discuss the deal.

An anoymous Jewish student at Columbia University is suing the school, claiming it has failed to provide a safe learning environment for its students due to the on-going Gaza protests on campus.

The lawsuit is seeking class-action status and argues that the school is “too dangerous fo Columbia’s Jewish students to receive the education they were promised”.

The filing takes particular issue with Columbia’s decision to introduce a hybrid learning system last week due to the protests.

“Jewish students…get a second-class education where they are relegated to their homes to attend classes virtually and stripped of the opportunity to interact meaningfully with other students and faculty and sit for examinations with their peers,” the lawsuit says. “The segregation of Jewish students is a dangerous development that can quickly escalate into more severe acts of violence and discrimination.”

A seperate motion filed alongside the lawsuit is seeking an emergency injuction forcing Columbia University to enforce its Statement of Ethical Conduct and Administrative Code of Conduct.

The Students for Justice in Palestine, a pro-Palestina student group at Columbia University, has called on students to show up to the campus encampment at noon in defiance of a 2pm deadline to clear out.

“Show up at NOON to protect the encampment!” the group wrote on X/Twitter.

Columbia University issued a notification on Monday telling protesters they faced suspension if they did not leave by the deadline and sign a document pledging to follow the university’s guidelines.

“If you do not leave by 2 p.m., you will be suspended pending further investigation,” the notification says.

Columbia University issued a statement on Monday warning student protesters that they needed to leave and sign a pledge to follow the school’s guidelines or they would be suspended.

The university warned protesters to clear out by 2pm EST.

They have been asked to “voluntarily leave by 2pm” and identify themselves to university officials. In addition, the school wants student protesters to sign a form promising to adhered to the university’s policies through June 2025 or “the date of the conferral of your degree”. The school is promising not to hold the protest against any student so long as they agree to the terms on the document, the Columbia Spectator reports.

“It is important for you to know that the University has already identified many students in the encampment. If you do not identify yourself upon leaving and sign the form now, you will not be eligible to sign and complete the semester in good standing,” a university statement said. “If you do not leave by 2pm, you will be suspended pending further investigation.”

University officials said it would establish an “alternative venue for demonstrations after the exam period and commencement have concluded.” It said that the current “unauthorized encampment’ is “creating an unwelcoming environment for members of our community.”

Donald Trump issued an uncharacteristically restrained — though still all in caps — call for the Gaza student protests to come to an end.

Mr Trump frequently brags that he “fought for Israel like no president ever before,” and moved the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the contested city of Jerusalem during his administration.

The former president is not a fan of the ongoing demonstrations.

“STOP THE PROTESTS NOW!!!” he wrote.

Despite his disdain for student protest movement and his support for Israel, even he has become somewhat more critical of the war in Gaza, even if he reasons why are rooted in cynical politicking.

“And the other thing is I hate, [Israeli media} put out tapes all the time. Every night, they’re releasing tapes of a building falling down,” Mr Trump said during a radio interview with conservative host Hugh Hewitt. “They shouldn’t be releasing tapes like that. They’re doing, that’s why they’re losing the PR war. They, Israel, is absolutely losing the PR war.”

Even Mr Trump suggested that Israel should show a bit of restraint, at least in how its leaders present it to the world.

“I think that’s one of the reasons that there has been a lot of kickback. If people didn’t see that, every single night I’d watch and every single one of those,” Mr Trump said in an Israel Hayom interview. “And I think Israel wanted to show that it’s tough, but sometimes you shouldn’t be doing that.”

Columbia University‘s embattled president Minouche Shafik reportedly admitted that talks between the school and the students protesting Israel‘s war on Gaza have broken down.

University administrators negotiated with the protesters during much of last week, even as the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, visited the campus to berate protesters and to call for Ms Shafik to resign.

The president issued a statement saying that “regretfully, we were not able to come to an agreement” with the protesting students.

She revealed that the university would not divest from Israel.

An anti-war movement is spreading on college campuses across America and beyond. Protests have been met with police violence, mass arrests and an unbending political class — all of which have only fuelled the demonstrations further.

A hot summer of protest looms, and the stage is set for a showdown at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, writes Richard Hall.