Barnard College said ‘no promises of amnesty were made’ and ‘no concessions’ given after anti-Israel activists storm campus building
‘No promises of amnesty were made, and no concessions were negotiated,’ a Barnard College spokesperson said.
The protesters took over a campus building and hospitalized a college worker.
Barnard College in New York, an affiliate of Columbia University, stated that it did not give in to the demands of protesters who stormed a campus building to protest the expulsion of two disruptive anti-Israel students.
The activists in question invaded and occupied Milbank Hall at Barnard College’s campus on Wednesday, attacking and hospitalizing a school worker. The protesters were demanding that Barnard College reinstate two students who were expelled for invading a class on Israel in January.
[RELATED: Columbia condemns student group’s call for more disruptions of ‘Zionist’ classes]
Robin Levine, Barnard College’s Vice President for Strategic Communications, issued the following statement on Thursday, which was shared with Campus Reform: “The masked protesters left Milbank Hall after receiving final written notice and being informed that Barnard would be forced to consider additional necessary measures to protect the campus if they did not leave on their own. No promises of amnesty were made, and no concessions were negotiated.”
Levine also said on Wednesday, as the protest was still ongoing: “Barnard is a place of learning. Respect, inclusivity, and safety are non-negotiable. Violence and intimidation have no place here. We have made multiple good-faith efforts to de-escalate. Barnard leadership offered to meet with the protesters - just as we meet with all members of our community - on one simple condition: remove their masks. They refused. We have also offered mediation.”
Barnard College’s President Laura Rosenbury also condemned the protesters in a statement shared with Campus Reform, saying they “attempted to undermine Barnard’s core values of respect, inclusion, and academic excellence,” and adding that “their disregard for the safety of our community remains completely unacceptable.”
The protest drew widespread condemnation.
The free speech advocacy group, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), wrote: “Holding administrators hostage is not free speech. Assault is not free speech. Disrupting classes is not free speech. Barring students from getting to class is not free speech,” and called for accountability for the students.
FIRE, however, also shared a letter, purportedly from the school administration, that seemed to allow protesters to face no consequences if they left before a given deadline. “Reports that Barnard administrators negotiated with the agitators last night, offering to let some avoid punishment for clear misconduct, are deeply concerning,” FIRE wrote.
House Speaker Mike Johnson also denounced the protesters, writing “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH,” and calling on Columbia and Barnard leaders to stop the “antisemitic chaos on campus.”
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.
Pro-Hamas mobs have NO place on our college campuses.
Barnard College & Columbia University must put an end to the antisemitic chaos on campus. https://t.co/9ImApKuAF7— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) February 27, 2025
New York Mayor Eric Adams also echoed these statements, writing that condemned, “in the strongest possible terms, any protest that calls for an ‘intifada revolution.’”
