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Columbia University has a long history of campus protests. Here’s a look back at some of them.

April 22, 2024

Columbia University pro-Palestinian encampment returns

04:49

NEW YORK — Columbia University students have used the campus to stage demonstrations for decades before the latest pro-Palestinian protests.

Columbia is currently holding classes remotely as pro-Palestinian protesters occupy the campus South Lawn.

Vietnam War protests, 1968

In 1968, students opposing U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War occupied several buildings on campus. That protest lasted a week before police were brought in. Some protesters suffered minor injuries, according to a New York Times report.

Columbia Unversity Demonstration Protest — Rebellious students at Columbia University Demonstration Protest. (Photo By: Charles Ruppmann/NY Daily News via Getty Images)

New York Daily News

Anti-apartheid protests, 1984

In 1984, students led anti-apartheid protests calling on Columbia to divest from South Africa. Demonstrators gathered at the entrance to Hamilton Hall, one of the buildings occupied in the ’68 demonstrations.

Sexual assault protests, 2014

Thirty years later, in the wake of the Ray Rice scandal, some students carried mattresses around to draw attention to the issue of on-campus sexual assaults and the university’s handling of reported rapes.

Columbia Student Carries Mattress Around Campus Until Her Alleged Rapist Is Expelled — NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 05: Emma Sulkowicz (L), a senior visual arts student at Columbia University, carries a mattress, with the help of three strangers who met her moments before, in protest of the university’s lack of action after she reported being raped during her sophomore year on September 5, 2014 in New York City. Sulkowicz has said she is committed to carrying the mattress everywhere she goes until the university expels the rapist or he leaves. The protest is also doubling as her senior thesis project.

Andrew Burton / Getty Images

Climate Change, 2019

In March 2019, Columbia students held one of the largest rallies in New York City during a national strike over climate change. Students in over 130 cities skipped classes in protest.

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES – 2019/03/15: Jay Inslee (D), Governor of the state of Washington, seen speaking during the Climate Strike at Columbia University in New York City, NY.

Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Israel-Hamas war, 2024

Weeks after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, hundreds of students gathered at the center of campus protesting Columbia’s decision to suspend the “Students for Justice in Palestine” and “Jewish Voice for Peace” groups for the semester.

Columbia And Barnard Alumni Protest Suspension Of Student Groups — NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 20: People gather to protest the banning of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) at Columbia University on November 20, 2023 in New York City. Students, alumni of both schools, some dressed in caps and gowns, and supporters held a “Denouncement Ceremony” and pledged not to donate money to the schools after the banning of the student groups for holding a nonviolent but unsanctioned protest demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. More than 20 progressive elected officials have sent a letter to the university calling for the reinstatement of the groups. Calls for a ceasefire in Gaza continue as the death toll from Israelâ€™s invasion of Gaza has increased in the weeks since the October 7 Hamas attack.

Michael M Santiago/Getty Images / Getty Images

Columbia’s Special Committee on Campus Safety said, “The two groups repeatedly violated university policies related to holding campus events, culminating in an unauthorized event … that proceeded despite warnings and included threatening rhetoric and intimidation.”

An aerial view of Columbia University’s campus shows the size of the encampment on the South Lawn of the Campus on April 22, 2024.

CBS2

The pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia have now been ongoing for nearly a week. The NYPD previously removed protesters that had built a makeshift encampment on the South Lawn, but a few days later, the tents had returned.

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