News/Commentary

Pro-Hamas-student mob seizes control of historic Barnard College building

February 27, 2025 | | Print Article

Far-left students commandeered a Barnard College building late Wednesday to protest the expulsion of two antisemitic students.

Last month, the two students stormed an Israeli history class at Columbia University, which lies across the street from Barnard College, and proceeded to fling around flyers dripping with violent, antisemitic hate.

Watch:

Flash forward to this week, when the students were expelled, becoming the first Columbia students to be expelled over the Israel-Gaza war.

In a statement, Barnard College president Laura Rosenbury attributed the expulsion in part to the students’ lack of remorse.

“When rules are broken, when there is no remorse, no reflection, and no willingness to change, we must act,” she said in a statement. “Expulsion is always an extraordinary measure, but so too is our commitment to respect, inclusion, and the integrity of the academic experience.”

The school’s notably large cohort of radicalized, far-left activists responded by vowing to protest until the students are granted “amnesty.”

The protest began around 4:00 pm Wednesday evening in Barnard College’s Milbank Hall, where masked activists pushed past a security guard whom they reportedly injured, and then began chanting “there is only one solution, intifada revolution” as they performed a sit-in.

The school later accused the activists of having hurt the security guard. They said in a statement to the New York Times that the activists had “physically assaulted a Barnard employee, sending them to the hospital.”

Watch them barging into the building below:

A local police spokesperson added in a separate statement that a 41-year-old man had been taken to Mt. Sinai Morningside Hospital by ambulance after he reported experiencing “pain about the body.”

Meanwhile, the protest led to some students, at least one of them Jewish, being blocked from getting to their classes.

Watch:

One of the activists’ demands was that they be granted a meeting with Dean Leslie Grinage. At one point, a so-called “faculty intermediary,” Kristina Milnor, informed the activist students that Grinage had agreed to meet with three of them only if they removed their masks and displayed their identification.

Watch:

The activist students refused the deal.

Then, at 8:30 pm, a fed-up Bernard spokesperson issued a statement warning that unless the students left within the hour, “Barnard will be forced to consider additional, necessary measures to protect our campus,” including calling in the police.

“We have made multiple good-faith efforts to de-escalate,” the spokesperson continued. “Barnard leadership offered to meet with the protesters — just as we meet with all members of our community — on one simple condition: remove their masks. They refused. We have also offered mediation.”

The sit-in ended shortly thereafter, with the activist students reportedly beating a drum as they marched out of the building.

Rosenbury subsequently released a statement calling the protest “unacceptable.”

“But let us be clear: their disregard for the safety of our community remains completely unacceptable,” she said.

Vivek Saxena
Latest posts by Vivek Saxena (see all)

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

Latest Articles