Protests against the Israel-Hamas War are increasingly impacting college campuses, creating a contentious atmosphere from coast to coast.
Dozens were arrested at Columbia University, New York University, and Yale over the last week, and safety concerns at Columbia prompted officials to offer classes online for the remainder of the semester. House Speaker Mike Johnson has called for Columbia President Minouche Shafik to resign if she cannot “bring order to the chaos.”
Tensions continue to rise in other parts of the country. The Los Angeles Police Department arrested 93 pro-Palestinian protestors on Wednesday at the University of Southern California (USC). The demonstration is now over, but USC campus will remain closed until further notice.
By Wednesday night, the Texas Department of Public Safety had arrested 34 people on the campus of University of Texas at Austin under similar circumstances. Among the detained was a Fox 7 photographer.
California State Polytechnic University Humboldt campus will operate online as demonstrators, including unidentified non-students, have occupied two campus buildings and barricaded the exits. In a statement Wednesday, officials said, “The University condemns in the strongest terms all forms of hatred, bigotry, and violence. Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, hatred, and bigotry in all forms have no place at Cal Poly Humboldt.”
Gaza’s health ministry reported that more than 34,000 lives have been lost thus far since the war that began October 7th, 70% of whom have been women and children. The Government Media Office in Gaza estimates an additional 7,000 people are missing.
