(NewsNation) — Pro-Palestine protesters staged a sit-in at Barnard College’s Milbank Hall on Wednesday, disrupting classes and demanding the reinstatement of two expelled students, The Columbia Spectator reported.
The demonstration began around 4 p.m. ET near Dean Leslie Grinage’s office, with protesters chanting “Grinage, Grinage you can’t hide” and “Dean Grinage, we know you, you expel your students, too.”
According to Columbia University Apartheid Divest, the protesters demanded “the immediate reversal” of two student expulsions and a public meeting with Barnard President Laura Rosenbury, as well as Grinage.
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In a statement to NewsNation, Barnard spokesperson Robin Levine said that “a small group of masked protesters forcibly entered Milbank Hall and physically assaulted a Barnard employee, sending them to the hospital.”
The statement added that protesters “encouraged others to enter campus without identification, showing blatant disregard for the safety of our community.”
CUAD claims the students were expelled for participating in a Jan. 21 disruption of a History of Modern Israel class, The Columbia Spectator reported.
“We have taken the administration completely off guard! They will have no peace until we have justice,” CUAD wrote on Instagram.
Barnard officials offered to meet with three “unmasked and uncovered” Barnard students as negotiators, but required ID checks and the presence of a witness and security officer. Protesters countered with demands for amnesty for all demonstrators and no video recording of the meeting, The Columbia Spectator reported.
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Columbia University distanced itself from the incident, stating: “Barnard College is a separate institution from Columbia University, although it is affiliated. Columbia is not responsible for security on Barnard’s campus.”
Protesters voted hourly on whether to continue the sit-in, The Columbia Spectator reported. By 7:28 p.m., they had decided to remain until at least 8:30 p.m., with Barnard threatening “additional, necessary measures” if protesters did not leave by 9:30 p.m.
The protesters also wrote “For Hind” on the dean’s office door, referencing Hind Rajab, a 6-year-old Palestinian girl killed by the Israeli military in January 2024. In April 2024, protesters occupied Columbia’s Hamilton Hall and renamed it “Hind’s Hall.”
Barnard told faculty to cancel or relocate classes scheduled in Milbank Hall after 5 p.m. CUAD announced that more protests were scheduled for Thursday.
