Columbia University on Monday told students in protest camps that they will be suspended if they do not move out, hours after the school’s president said it would not secede from Israel – a demand that sparked protests on college campuses across the country has.
The university asked the student protesters to vacate by 2 p.m. or they would be “suspended pending further investigation” and barred from completing the spring semester.
At the camp, now in its second week, participants voted almost unanimously to stay.
In her statement, President Minouche Shafik called on protesters to disperse voluntarily, saying the demonstration had created “an unwelcoming environment for many of our Jewish students and faculty” and that “external actors” had contributed to a “hostile atmosphere” around the protest Goals from the university contributed that it had become a “noisy distraction” for the students.
Shafik also referred to the start of studies on May 15 and said: “We also do not want to deprive thousands of students and their families and friends of a graduation ceremony.”
Columbia was the first elite institution to be affected by protests in support of the Palestinian cause. The students demanded that the school withdraw from investments supporting arms production and Israel, against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war that has killed more than 34,000 people in the Gaza Strip. Protests quickly spread to campuses from coast to coast last week, leading to mass arrests and raids.
“While the university will not divest from Israel,” it offered to create an accelerated schedule for the school’s Socially Responsible Investment Advisory Committee, which deals with divestment, to consider new proposals from students, Shafik said. “The university also offered to publish a process for students to access a list of Colombia’s direct investment holdings and to increase the frequency of updates to this holding list,” it added.
Although the Columbia talks were at a stalemate, there appeared to be some small movements in the negotiations. Shafik said the university had offered to “invest in health and education in Gaza, including supporting early childhood development and supporting displaced scientists.”
“We call on the residents of the camp to disperse voluntarily. We are consulting with a broader group in our community to explore alternative internal options to end this crisis as quickly as possible. We will continue to update the community on new developments,” she said.
The notices, viewed by NBC News and distributed to protest participants Monday morning, asked protesters to identify themselves to a university official and sign a form agreeing to an alternative solution to the violations of university policy at the encampment.
Those who sign will be eligible to complete the semester properly and will not be suspended if they follow University policies.
Anyone who does not leave by 2 p.m. will be suspended.
“We regret having to take these actions, but we must restore order on campus so that all students can complete their work for the semester, study for exams and feel welcome in the community,” the statement said.
If the encampment is not removed, the notice states: “We will be required to take disciplinary action for a number of violations of university policies. These are policies that you agreed to abide by when you joined our community.”
It noted that the university would “offer an alternative location for demonstrations after the exam period and start of exams are complete.” The alternative resolution states that the signatories agree to be placed on disciplinary probation, abide by university policies and agree to participate in university disciplinary proceedings.
A Columbia University Apartheid Divest rally with Students Workers of Columbia, a protected union group, was planned for Monday at 1 p.m.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com