As police investigate reports that students at Columbia University were sprayed with a chemical during a pro-Palestinian campus protest, a coalition of student groups is demanding an end to a dual degree program between Columbia and Tel Aviv University.
The coalition, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, also called on the university to pay for sickened protesters’ medical bills, for their mental health services and for their damaged property following Friday’s protest.
The demands came as students walked out of class Wednesday afternoon, and 10 have gone to the hospital since the reported attack, according to a tally by a group called Students for Justice in Palestine.
“Minouche Shafik, you must pay! Medical bills are on the way!” students chanted in videos posted to social media. Shafik is Columbia’s president.
Students revived Columbia University Apartheid Divest following years of inaction after university officials in the fall suspended campus chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace in a decision widely reviled by free speech advocates.
Apartheid Divest has grown from several dozen student groups in November to more than 100 organizations, according to its own tally.
Columbia University Apartheid Divest also demands that Columbia overhaul its Public Safety Department and its relationship with the NYPD.
“We have been unable to report our very serious experiences of violence to the university because these reports automatically trigger NYPD involvement, which poses a serious risk to many of our members,” the group said.
The student groups on social media said they were taking safety into their own hands by recording Wednesday’s demonstration and designating a “safety team” with orange fabric on its members’ heads and arms.
More than 100 students walked out of their classes in the cold rain, according to a student newspaper, the Columbia Spectator.
Ahead of the walkout, Columbia barricaded Low Library, the site of the Friday protest, and shuttered its gates. The university’s Public Safety Department asked students and faculty to scan their ID cards to access campus, citing safety concerns.
“This cautionary step acknowledges the reality that our campus is in the City of New York,” read a memo, “and community members outside of Columbia may come to our campus without necessarily sharing our values to maintain safety, free expression, and a sense of community.”
Police announced Tuesday they are no longer investigating the alleged attack as a hate crime, but that the substance involved is being tested.
Students have reported symptoms that ranged from headaches and nausea to lightheadedness and chest-tightness since attending Friday’s protest.
