COLUMBIA HAS FALLEN: School switches to hybrid schedule for REST OF SEMESTER as pro-Hamas camp continues to rule campus
The decision comes as the protests at Columbia University, which have seen more than 100 students arrested, continue.
Some have criticized the decision to go hybrid.
Columbia University leadership announced Monday that classes will begin to be offered on a hybrid model until the end of the semester.
The announcement, made by Provost Angela V. Olinto and Chief Operating Officer Cas Holloway, stated the following for Columbia’s Morningside campus: “All courses hybrid - classroom technology permitting - until the end of each school’s Spring 2024 semester with the following carveouts.”
The “carveouts” refer to “Arts/Practice-based programs” and “Medical Center and Manhattanville” students, who can still attend courses in person with certain “accommodations.”
[RELATED: Columbia administration has ‘lost complete control over its campus,’ Pro-Israel org warns]
“All faculty whose classrooms are located on the main Morningside campus and equipped with hybrid capabilities should enable them to provide virtual learning options to students who need such a learning modality. Faculty in other classrooms or teaching spaces that do not have capabilities for offering hybrid options should hold classes remotely if there are student requests for virtual participation,” the announcement continued.
It added: “If the class does not permit adapting to the remote offering format, we encourage faculty to provide other accommodations liberally to students who have requested support for virtual learning this week.”
The university leaders also wrote that “Administrative officers and support staff who are able to work from home may do so.”
The decision has faced criticism, with former Trump Administration official Ari Fleischer writing on X: “The school should be fully open (no remote classes) and students who disrupt other students should be expelled.”
[RELATED: Cops arrest over 40 at violent Yale protest inspired by Columbia anti-Israel occupation]
Columbia is the scene of a large anti-Israel protest that began last week and is still ongoing, and has seen more than 100 students arrested, as well as some students shouting out pro-Hamas messages.
Student journalist Sahar Tartak posted a video to X of the Columbia protest, writing: “This looks like a sitcom, but it’s not. A human blockade of hundreds at Columbia approaches a small group of Jewish students while saying ‘one step forward... push them out of the camp’ in perfect unison. This is a Columbia tent encampment.”
This looks like a sitcom, but it’s not. A human blockade of hundreds at Columbia approaches a small group of Jewish students while saying “one step forward... push them out of the camp” in perfect unison. This is a Columbia tent encampment pic.twitter.com/QvBuzP5QJH
— Sahar Tartak🇮🇱🇺🇸 (@sahar_tartak) April 22, 2024
The Columbia protest has inspired numerous other demonstrations across the nation, including at the University of Michigan and New York University.
