Rubio demands Columbia refund student tuition after occupation renders campus nonfunctional
'The situation at Columbia predictably devolved into chaos. Riots ensued, and so did violent and antisemitic behavior, which threatened the safety of hundreds of students and robbed countless others of the education they paid for,'
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio sent an open letter Thursday to the president of Columbia University, Minouche Shafik, asking her to refund students because of the massive pro-Hamas encampment that disrupted campus activities.
“I write to urge you to refund Columbia students for the thousands of dollars of tuition and fees they paid Columbia University while you allowed lawless, pro-Hamas rioters to stop your institution from fulfilling its most basic obligation: providing a quality education,” Rubio wrote in the letter.
Rubio continued to state that although the Columbia administration initially cracked down on the pro-Palestine encampment that formed on April 17, it stopped responding after receiving criticism from “left-wing activists.”
[RELATED: Columbia administration has ‘lost complete control over its campus,’ Pro-Israel org warns]
“Your administration initially responded prudently, requesting the New York Police Department (NYPD) to disband encampments and establish peace,” the senator wrote. “Yet, the moment you faced criticism from left-wing activists, you reversed course, refusing to request further assistance from NYPD as protesters returned to campus.”
From that point in time, Rubio asserted, the university ceased to function properly.
“The situation at Columbia predictably devolved into chaos. Riots ensued, and so did violent and antisemitic behavior, which threatened the safety of hundreds of students and robbed countless others of the education they paid for,” he added.
Rubio especially highlighted the anti-Semitic behavior of students at Columbia — and the university’s apparent inability to stop them.
“One rioter pointed toward Jewish students while holding a sign that read ‘AlQasam’s (sic) next targets,’ effectively calling on Hamas’ military wing to attack these students for their race and religion. Other rioters shouted ‘Hamas we love you. We support your rockets, too,’” Rubio explained.
Rubio noted, however, that the administration failed to address the anti-Semitic behavior in any meaningful way.
The weeks-long disruption also resulted in violent altercations between demonstrators and law enforcement and more than 100 arrests. This led a Columbia faculty group to issue a vote of no confidence in President Shafik.
In presenting his argument that Columbia should refund its students, Rubio pointed to the disruption of education that the pro-Palestine encampment caused.
“[D]espite Columbia’s extraordinary expenses, your failure to respond to illegal rioters caused many Columbia undergraduates to miss three weeks of in-person education,” he said. “You canceled in-person classes and programming on April 23rd, urged professors to cancel final exams the second week of May, and canceled Columbia’s undergraduate commencement ceremony on May 15th, citing safety concerns.”
Columbia’s tuition cost alone is more than $68,000, according to the university’s website.
Campus Reform has contacted Columbia University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
