Columbia University, on edge amid growing concern about anti-Semetic rhetoric on a campus rocked by protests and encampments, will make all classes remote Monday, the first day of Passover.
University President Minouche Shafik said the goal is to “deescalate the rancor and give us all a chance to consider next steps.”
“Faculty and staff who can work remotely should do so; essential personnel should report to work according to university policy,” the president said in a statement. “Our preference is that students who do not live on campus will not come to campus.”
Roni Jacobson for New York Daily News
Pictures from inside the pro-Palestine encampment on the southwest lawn at Columbia University campus. (Roni Jacobson for New York Daily News)
Columbia had previously said remote learning would be an option before changing course and going all-remote for Monday.
The announcement comes four days after the NYPD, at the university’s request, cleared the encampments on the south lawn and took 108 students into custody. All but a handful were issued summonses for trespassing.
The encampments returned over the weekend, with students resuming their protest against Israel’s military response in the Gaza strip following the Oct. 7 terror attack by Hamas.
