Ten months after pro-Palestinian Arab demonstrators occupied Hamilton Hall at Columbia University, Barnard College has expelled one of its students, the campus protest group Columbia University Apartheid Divest announced on Monday, according to The New York Daily News.
Another student has been suspended, the report said.
According to Columbia University Apartheid Divest, Barnard administrators informed the expelled student late last week that they had been removed from the school’s roster. The action follows the recent expulsion of two other Barnard students who disrupted an Israeli history class at Columbia in January.
Barnard College has not confirmed any specific disciplinary actions, citing federal privacy laws. A spokesperson for the college referred media inquiries to a previous statement released after the expulsion of two students involved in the classroom disruption. During that incident, protesters distributed flyers depicting a boot stomping on the Star of David, a widely recognized Jewish symbol.
Columbia University Apartheid Divest blamed the disciplinary actions on external political pressure, according to The New York Daily News.
Last Thursday, the US Department of Justice announced that a task force would investigate allegations of antisemitism on ten college campuses, including Columbia and New York University. A day later, Barnard expelled the student.
“Rather than engage with students or divest [from Israel], Barnard has rushed to satisfy the US Department of Justice by sanctioning and expelling students,” the group wrote in a press release.
The other student involved in the Hamilton Hall occupation has been suspended for nearly two years, according to Columbia University Apartheid Divest.
The protest group also stated that this is the first expulsion directly linked to the occupation of Hamilton Hall. The exact number of Barnard students involved in the takeover is unclear, but at least six students from Columbia-affiliated schools, including Barnard and the Union Theological Seminary, participated.
To date, neither Columbia University nor student activists have reported any expulsions on the university’s main campus.
Columbia has come under increased scrutiny over the rise in antisemitism on campus since the Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7, 2023.
Before the anti-Israel encampment at Hamilton Hall last April, the Chabad rabbi of Columbia University and a group of Jewish students were forced to leave the university campus for their own safety during a pro-Hamas demonstration.
In August, three Columbia University deans resigned from the school, after it was discovered that they had exchanged “very troubling” texts that “disturbingly touched on ancient antisemitic tropes”.
Later that month, Columbia University President Dr. Minouche Shafik announced her resignation, following months of criticism for her handling of campus antisemitism.
In September, on the first day of classes, dozens of masked anti-Israel protesters gathered at the entrance to Columbia and at Barnard College.