Topline
Student protesters at Columbia University occupied Hamilton Hall early on Tuesday morning—a symbolic move that immediately drew comparisons to the consequential protests of 1968, which saw hundreds of students occupy the same building and other parts of the campus to protest segregation and the escalating Vietnam War.
Over 700 students were arrested during the protests in the 1960s—but only 30 were eventually ... [+]
Key Facts
The 1968 protests were principally organized by the Students for a Democratic Society, a mainstay of the 1960s “New Left” movement, and Columbia’s Society of Afro-American Students.
Several events spurred the mass protests in April 1968—including the university’s plan to build a segregated gymnasium in Morningside Park, a large public park bordering the majority-black neighborhood of Harlem.
Other students demanded Columbia sever its ties with the Institute for Defense Analysis, a Department of Defense think tank heavily involved with American colleges as the U.S. escalated the Vietnam War.
Protesters occupied a total of five buildings on campus, including Hamilton Hall and President Grayson Kirk’s office, and even took Dean Henry S. Coleman hostage for about 24 hours.
More than 700 students were arrested by the NYPD over the course of seven days in April 1968—but a judge dropped criminal trespassing charges for at least 368 of them in October, the New York Times reported at the time.
A total of 73 students were suspended from Columbia after the protests, the New York Times reported in 1968, but most of these students were reinstated and only 30 suspensions were upheld.
What Did The Strike Accomplish?
The initial protests ended on April 30 after police cleared protesters out of Hamilton Hall and other campus buildings, but many of their goals were realized—Columbia scrapped its plan for the Morningside Park gym, withdrew from the IDA and temporarily banned military recruitment on campus. Classes were canceled for a week after the protest ended, but students organized a “student strike” and encouraged others to refrain from stepping foot inside classrooms for the remainder of the semester. Over 300 graduating students walked out of the official commencement ceremony that year, and President Kirk stepped down that August.
Surprising Fact
In an interview with the Daily Beast on Tuesday, former Columbia protest leader Mark Rudd said that 2024 protesters are “a lot more careful” and “smarter” than their counterparts in 1968. “They don't have the violent rhetoric we had, like calling the cops pigs and ‘Up against the wall, motherfucker,’ that kind of craziness,” he told the publication. Rudd, who later served time in prison for his actions with the Weather Underground, was one of the students initially suspended during the protests.
Key Background
Student protesters at Columbia set up the Gaza Solidarity Encampment on the college’s South Lawn on April 17. The protesters called on the university to divest from companies that do business with the Israeli military. The university quickly moved to shut the encampment down on April 18, calling in the NYPD—who arrested over 100 students that evening. The encampment was quickly rebuilt in the days following the mass arrests, and Columbia President Minouche Shafik previously said calling the NYPD back to campus would be “counterproductive.” However, Shafik gave protesters a final 2 p.m. deadline on Monday to clear the encampment or face immediate suspensions. Protesters remained at the encampment past the deadline, and Columbia reportedly began issuing suspensions on Monday night. After students broke into Hamilton Hall on Tuesday morning, the university said students inside would “face expulsion.” It is unclear how many students have been issued suspensions or expulsions so far. Final exams end at Columbia on May 10, and the university’s commencement ceremony is scheduled for May 15.