Columbia Protesters Vote to Disregard Dispersal Order

Pro-Palestine protesters at Columbia University were given a deadline to disperse their encampment or risk suspension, according to a notice delivered to demonstrators on Monday morning, April 29.

In the statement, Columbia’s administration urged protesters to remove the encampment to avoid interfering with commencement activities, saying many in the graduating class were “deprived of a graduation celebration from high school because of the pandemic.”

The notice also said the university would provide alternate locations for demonstrations “after the exam period and commencement have concluded.”

Protesters had been calling for Columbia to sever financial ties with companies and institutions that support Israel. In a statement released Monday morning, Columbia President Minouche Shafik said the university would not divest from such investments.

Footage taken by Davide Lerner shows a demonstrator speaking to a crowd through a megaphone at the Morningside Heights campus on Monday.

“We are responsible for each other. Our liberation is inevitably tied to the liberation of one another,” they are heard saying in the footage. “So, the vote is whether or not we continue to stay past 2 pm.”

Those in favor were asked to raise their hands, at which point the speaker said, “Period. We’re staying out here,” to applause and cheers from the crowd. Credit: Davide Lerner Journalist via Storyful

Video transcript

We keep each other safe.We are responsible for each other.Our liberation is inevitably tied to the liberation of one another.So the vote is whether or not we continue to stay past 2 p.m. two PM.Do I get a second?All those in favor period.We are staying out here.Go to the rally.We keep each other safe.We are responsible for each other.Our liberation is inevitably tied to the liberation of one another.So the vote is whether or not we continue to stay past 2 p.m. two PM.Do I get a second?All those in favor period, we are staying out here.Go to the R we keep each other safe.We are responsible for each other.Our liberation is inevitably tied to the liberation of one another.So the vote is whether or not we continue to stay past 2 p.m. two PM.Do I get a second?All in favor period.We are staying out here.Go to the