Columbia University is limiting access to its Manhattan campus to only those with student IDs as part of new policies for the fall to combat the possibility of violent anti-Israel protesters.
Columbia University relaxed its color-coded threat monitoring system to the lowest level, green, allowing it to open to all students this summer, but starting Monday it will raise the threat level to orange, allowing only students and staff to enter its Morningside campus.
“We have received reports of potential disruptions at Columbia and on college campuses across the country as the new semester begins, and we are making this change to help keep our community safe,” said Cass Holloway, Columbia’s chief operating officer. said in a community notice. On the weekend.
“We are particularly concerned about non-affiliates who may not have the interests of the Columbia community first,” said Holloway, whose home was the target of anti-Israel vandalism last week.
Guests will still be allowed on campus, but they will have to go through a new registration process introduced in June and show government-issued identification.
The university is limiting entrances to five locations around campus, including three on 116th Street, one on 114th Street and one on 120th Street.
Officials said the new rules will remain in effect until further notice.
The crackdown came after anti-Israel vandals smeared Hamas-themed graffiti, splashed paint and released live crickets and mealworms throughout Holloway’s Brooklyn apartment building early Thursday.
Police said the assailants spray-painted two inverted circles at the entrance, a symbol that Hamas has used in the past to identify Israeli military targets.
Before making their escape, the gunmen plastered the outside of the building with threatening posters bearing the names and photos of Ivy League leaders and criticizing their response to the violent anti-Israel protests that ravaged Columbia University’s Morningside Heights campus earlier this year.
The campus became the epicenter of violent protests against the Gaza war, sparking similar demonstrations across the US, with Columbia University students setting up encampments, occupying historic Hamilton Hall and ultimately clashing with police.
During and after the protests, the university faced significant backlash over its response.
Hundreds of people were arrested during the protests, and many were charged with trespassing and occupying Hamilton Hall, though most of the cases were later dismissed.
It remains to be seen whether the protests, which stopped after the spring semester ended, will resume when students return to classes on September 3rd.
