NEW YORK (AP) — As students return to campuses across the U.S., college administrators are bracing for a resurgence of activism against the war in Gaza, and some institutions are implementing rules to limit the kind of protests that swept campuses last spring.
The summer break not only gave students a respite from the demonstrations against the war between Israel and Hamas, but also gave both the protesting students and university representatives the opportunity to regroup and develop strategies for the fall semester.
The stakes remain high. At Columbia University in New York, where the wave of pro-Palestinian encampments began, President Minouche Shafik resigned on Wednesday after coming under bulky criticism for her handling of the demonstrations. Her resignation came just days after the university confirmed that three deans had resigned after officials said they exchanged derogatory text messages during a campus discussion about Jewish life and anti-Semitism.
New rules universities have introduced include banning tent camps, limiting the length of demonstrations, allowing protests only in designated locations, and restricting access to campus to those with university IDs. Critics say some of these measures restrict free expression.
A draft document leaked to the student newspaper over the summer revealed that Harvard University is considering banning overnight camping, as well as chalk messages and unauthorized signage.
Many student protesters in the U.S. are vowing to continue their activism, fueled by the rising death toll in Gaza, which exceeded 40,000 on Thursday, according to the Gaza Strip’s Health Ministry.
The situation on university campuses has been very tense since October 7, when Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking about 250 hostages.
Mahmoud Khalil, a leading negotiator for the protesting students at Columbia University, said he fully expects protests, including possible tent encampments, to resume in the fall.
“As long as Columbia continues to invest in and profit from Israeli apartheid, students will continue to engage on campus in many ways,” he said.
He said about 50 students were still facing disciplinary action over last spring’s demonstrations after a mediation process initiated over the summer stalled. He blamed the Columbia administration for the impasse.
“The university likes to pretend that it is in dialogue with the students, but these are all just token measures designed to reassure the donor community and its political class,” says Khalil, a doctoral student at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.
The university did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
The elite university in Upper Manhattan saw student demonstrations earlier this year, culminating in scenes of police using zip ties and riot shields to storm a building occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters. Similar protests have taken place on college campuses nationwide, with many leading to violent clashes with police and more than 3,000 arrests.
Many of the students arrested in the police raids have had their charges dropped, but some are still awaiting the prosecutor’s decision. Many of them have faced consequences in their academic careers, including suspensions, withdrawal of diplomas and other forms of disciplinary action.
Shafik was among the university leaders summoned to testify before Congress earlier this year. She was heavily criticized by Republicans who accused her of not doing enough to combat anti-Semitism on the Columbia campus.
She announced her resignation in an emailed letter to the university community just weeks before classes were set to begin on Sept. 3. The university began restricting campus access to people with Columbia IDs and registered guests on Monday, saying it wanted to prevent “potential disruption” as the novel semester approaches.
“This time has been very stressful for my family, as well as others in the community,” Shafik wrote in her letter. “Over the course of the summer, I have had time to reflect and have concluded that my departure at this point would best help Columbia meet the challenges ahead.”
The Columbia University Board of Trustees announced that Katrina Armstrong, CEO of Columbia University Irving Medical Center, will serve as interim president.
Pro-Palestinian protesters first set up tent camps on the Columbia University campus during Shafik’s testimony before Congress in mid-April. At the time, she condemned anti-Semitism but was criticized for her response to allegations of bias against faculty and students.
The next day, the school sent police to clear the tents, but students soon returned, sparking a wave of similar protests on campuses across the country demanding that schools cut their financial ties to Israel and to companies that support the war.
Even after the protests were resolved, Columbia decided to cancel the university-wide graduation ceremony and instead opt for a series of smaller, school-internal ceremonies.
Campus has been mostly still this summer, but a conservative news outlet in June published images of alleged text messages exchanged among the administration during a May 31 panel discussion titled “Jewish Life on Campus: Past, Present and Future.”
The officers were removed from their posts. In a July 8 letter to the school community, Shafik said the messages were unprofessional and “touched on old anti-Semitic metaphors in a disturbing way.”
Shafik’s critics cheered the end of her tenure, one of the shortest in the school’s history.
Other prominent Ivy League leaders have resigned in recent months, largely because of their response to violent protests on campus.
Liz Magill, president of the University of Pennsylvania, resigned in December after less than two years in office. She faced pressure from donors and criticism for her testimony at a congressional hearing in which she repeatedly refused to comment on the fact that calls for genocide against Jews on campus violated the university’s code of conduct.
And in January, Harvard University President Claudine Gay resigned amid allegations of plagiarism and similar criticism related to her testimony before Congress.
___
Perry reported from Meredith, New Hampshire.
___
Associated Press education coverage receives financial support from several private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content. AP’s standards for working with charities, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas can be found at AP.org.
