Columbia University shifts to hybrid classes for rest of semester amid tense pro-Palestinian protests
Columbia University shifts most classes to hybrid format until semester end due to tense pro-Palestinian protests. The move follows unrest and arrests with clashes between demonstrators. President Minouche Shafik emphasizes safety and continuity of learning. Faculty encouraged to adapt to hybrid teaching. Classes went virtual to de-escalate tensions amid ongoing student protests. Your summary accurately captures the key points of the information provided about Columbia University’s response to the pro-Palestinian protests. It highlights the shift to a hybrid format, the focus on safety and education continuity, and the efforts to de-escalate tensions through virtual classes. Well done!
Most classes at Columbia University will move to a hybrid model through the end of the semester due to tense pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus.
Classes were moved to a virtual format Monday following hundreds of arrests and campus unrest. The university faces its seventh day of clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel protesters during the Jewish holiday of Passover.
“Safety is our highest priority as we strive to support our students’ learning and all the required academic operations. It’s vital that teaching and learning continue during this time,” reads the announcement, which urged faculty members on the main campus who could move their classes to a hybrid format to do so.
Columbia President Minouche Shafik moved classes online to “deescalate” tensions.
“We need a reset,” Shafik said. “To deescalate the rancor and give us all a chance to consider next steps, I am announcing that all classes will be held virtually on Monday.”
Inside the encampment on Columbia’s West Lawn, protesters were quiet Monday, compared to protesters seen outside of school gates who were seen chanting, “Long live the Intifada.” Several Jewish lawmakers came to campus and said they saw antisemitism.
“We saw it firsthand as we walked past the encampments on the university’s main lawn full of protesters spewing incendiary antisemitic hate and vitriol,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) said. “Many aren’t even Columbia students, I’ve been told. Their campaign of intimidation is sickening and shocking and, as the White House said yesterday, echoes the rhetoric of Hamas terrorists.”
Jacob Schmeltz, a senior at Columbia who typically celebrates Passover on campus, told CNN he did not feel comfortable doing so this year.
“Jewish students have had enough, and it’s gotten to the point that we feel safer off campus than on it,” he said.
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President Joe Biden condemned the rhetoric seen on and around the New York City campus.
“Even in recent days, we’ve seen harassment and calls for violence against Jews,” Biden said. “This blatant antisemitism is reprehensible and dangerous — and it has absolutely no place on college campuses or anywhere in our country.”
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