Student editors at the Columbia Law Review are calling on administrators to cancel law school exams and pass all students after police cleared an anti-Israel encampment last week. The student group claims in the letter that it has been “irreparably shaken” by the police’s actions.
The letter was written shortly after the NYPD dismantled the protesters’ tent city on Tuesday night and evicted them from nearby Hamilton Hall, where students were so upset. He also said that schools should at least give students a simple pass/fail grade.
“The acts of violence we witnessed last night have irreparably shaken many of us at the Review,” the editors whined in their letter. Published by Above the Law.
“We know this is the same for the majority of our classmates,” the editor continued.
“Videos have circulated showing police in riot gear taunting and brutalizing students. Last night’s events have caused us and many of our colleagues to lose focus during this turbulent time. , it became very emotional.”
The letter comes amid “increasing distress” students have felt for months “as humanitarian crises continue to unfold overseas and blatant anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and racism on campus escalate.” He added that it was a collision.
“We believe canceling the trial is a proportionate response to the level of distress felt by our colleagues,” the editors said.
“Alternatively, requiring a pass/fail course would be the next most fair solution.”
The demonstration at the Manhattan Ivy is part of dozens of demonstrations at universities across the country where students have occupied buildings, set up encampments and disrupted classes in protest of Israel’s war in Gaza. .
Many students are calling on these universities to reconsider their investments in Israel or stop doing business with the conflict-affected country altogether.
Since April 17, there have been 2,400 arrests at 46 campuses nationwide.
In their letter, the editors wrote that despite support from three-quarters of the student body, school administrators “don’t want to consider our request to make all classes pass/fail this semester. I refused,” he wrote.
“We recognize our position as a student-run academic journal and cannot function if our students are unwell,” the letter states, and is joined by five of the school’s other law journals. is signed.
“Many are currently unwell and unable to study or concentrate while their peers are taken to prison.”
On Sunday, a law school spokesperson said only that exams would resume Thursday after a one-day hiatus and “will run until the end of the exam period.”
Hundreds of police officers descended on the Ivy League school’s Morningside Heights campus around 9 p.m. Tuesday after finally being given the green light to clear out a pro-Palestinian camp that had disrupted campus life since it began several weeks ago. Crowded.
Officers also removed a rogue mob who had taken control of historic Hamilton Hall, where windows were smashed, furniture destroyed and entrances barricaded during the occupation.
Afterwards, the university said it regretted having to rely on New York’s Finest to clean up the mess.
“After the university learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized and put on lockdown, we were left with no choice.” the administration said.
“Columbia public safety personnel were removed from the building and members of our facilities team were threatened. We will not jeopardize the safety of our community or the possibility of further escalation.”
Authorities arrested about 100 protesters in total. Some students said they still feared for their safety, even as police raided the tent city.
“I really worry about the students here because many of them have never experienced this disconcerting crowd mentality,” third-year student Drake Harding-Paul told the Post. Ta. “It’s definitely not safe to be on campus.”
“I think the response last night was pretty slow,” he continued. “I really think it should have happened a long time ago.”
with post wire
