The president of Barnard College plans to lift the interim suspensions of anti-Israel campus protesters following a faculty revolt and public criticism from Representative Ilhan Omar’s (D., Minn.) daughter, who was among those suspended.
Barnard president Laura Rosenbury addressed the campus tensions in a statement Monday night and said the college offered to lift interim suspensions for anti-Israel protesters without a previous record of misconduct, if those students follow campus rules.
“The vast majority of the students on interim suspension have not previously engaged in misconduct under Barnard’s rules. Last night, the College sent written notices to these students offering to lift the interim suspensions, and immediately restore their access to College buildings, if they agree to follow all Barnard rules during a probationary period,” Rosenbury said.
Barnard placed dozens of students on interim suspension last week after they participated in Columbia University’s unauthorized tent encampment, set up to protest U.S. support for Israel’s war against Hamas and Columbia’s financial relationship with companies that do business in Israel. The Barnard students were evicted from student housing and prevented from attending classes under the terms of their suspension.
Isra Hirsi, Omar’s daughter and an outspoken communist, was one of the students placed under suspension after she was arrested by NYPD officers and removed from the Columbia encampment. In an interview with Teen Vogue, Hirsi claimed she was struggling to find shelter as a result of her suspension and criticized Barnard’s administration for supposedly opposing the anti-Israel protesters.
“I think it’s really on a school-by-school basis, and Barnard has decided to take a very egregious stand against us,” Hirsi said. Rosenbury said Barnard is helping students find housing in the meantime and providing students services such as food and health care.
Three student-admissions representatives stepped down from their positions to protest the suspensions, the Columbia Spectator reported. Before the suspensions were leveled, Barnard gave students notice that they would face punishment if they did not leave the encampment, Rosenbury said.
Barnard and Columbia faculty issued a statement last week expressing support for student protesters and a group of them appear to have visited Rosenbury’s office to voice opposition to the suspensions. The faculty demanded “suspensions and charges be dismissed immediately and expunged from the students’ records, and that all rights and privileges be restored to them immediately,” according to the Columbia Spectator.
The encampment at Columbia and protests surrounding the campus have become increasingly hostile towards Jewish students over the past few days. Columbia moved classes to a hybrid arrangement for the remainder of the semester to as protests interfere with campus life and Jewish students seek refuge elsewhere.