Columbia to Hold Classes Remotely Following Weekend Protests

Tents at the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on the campus of Columbia University on Sunday night.

Columbia University announced early Monday that it would hold classes remotely, a move that highlighted worsening friction at the school after a wave of protests on campus over the weekend.

The protests, which have included several moments when demonstrators have yelled antisemitic or threatening language at Jewish students and faculty, have drawn widespread attention from city and national officials and raised safety concerns for some Jewish students.

The actions have also spread to other campuses across the country, as students said they were walking out or setting up tent encampments in solidarity with Columbia students. The protesters at Columbia have taken over a lawn in the center of campus and erected tents draped with protests signs and Palestinian flags.

The university’s president, Nemat Shafik, said in a letter to the Columbia community, “We need a reset,” adding that she felt sadness about how the university’s bonds had been severely tested in recent weeks. She urged students who do not live on campus not to travel there.

Pro-Palestinian students, many of whom are Jewish, had erected dozens of tents on a campus lawn last week, and refused to leave until Columbia met their demands, including divesting from companies with ties to Israel. In an effort to quell the unrest, Dr. Shafik called in the police, who made more than 100 arrests.

Yet the transition to virtual classes was another sign that bringing in local law enforcement may have set off a wave of unintended fallout. Students put new tents up over the weekend. And the response appeared to fuel a crowd of pro-Palestinian demonstrators who were unaffiliated with the school, some of whom yelled from the university gates at Jewish students over the weekend.

The decision to bring in the police also unleashed a wave of activism across a growing number of college campuses. In the days after the tents at Columbia came down, students at Yale, the University of Michigan and M.I.T. erected their own encampments in support of those arrested. By early Monday, New York University had become the latest protest site.

In her announcement on the remote classes, Dr. Shafik acknowledged that there was “much debate about whether or not we should use the police on campus,” adding “I am happy to engage in those discussions.” She said that a group of deans, university administrators and faculty members would work in the coming days to bring the crisis to a resolution.

“The decibel of our disagreements has only increased in recent days,” she said, adding that “there have been too many examples of intimidating and harassing behavior on our campus.”

The announcement was a reflection of the heightened pressure on the university’s leadership to quell campus antisemitism and keep students safe. Dr. Shafik vowed to bring an end to any hateful behavior at a House hearing last Wednesday.

But by Sunday, some members of Congress had become increasingly unsatisfied with the response. Representative Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican, said in a statement that the university’s leadership had “clearly lost control of its campus,” and called on Dr. Shafik to resign.

Representative Virginia Foxx, the Republican chairwoman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, which held the House hearing, said in a letter to the school’s administration on Sunday that “a severe and pervasive hostile environment for Jewish students” was still thriving on campus.

“This is a pivotal moment and a test of Columbia’s leaders,” Ms. Foxx said, adding that “if you do not rectify this danger, then the committee will not hesitate in holding you accountable.”

The atmosphere on and around campus became particularly tense over the weekend.

Pro-Palestinian protests on Saturday evening drew widespread criticism from city officials and even the White House. Elie Buechler, a rabbi who works for Columbia, told hundreds of Jewish students on Sunday morning via WhatsApp that the university had failed to guarantee their safety and urged them to return home.

Some of those protests led to the harassment of some Jewish students who were targeted with antisemitic comments. The verbal attacks sowed fear in some of the 5,000 Jewish students at Columbia and drew condemnation from the White House and Mayor Eric Adams of New York City.

In her letter, Dr. Shafik, who goes by Minouche, urged anyone affected by the protests to report problems through the proper university channels. Many students and faculty have said the university’s decision to call in the police was too aggressive, and some also drew a distinction between the protests inside campus and those outside.

“Let’s remind ourselves of our common values of honoring learning, mutual respect and kindness that have been the bedrock of Columbia,” Dr. Shafik said in her letter. “I hope everyone can take a deep breath, show compassion and work together to rebuild the ties that bind us together.”