Barnard students tear apart school’s response to violent loved ones protests
The pro-Hamas protests have been reignited on a major university campus, with students calling on administrators to take stronger action.
Barnard College freshman Shoshana Aufzien criticized the school’s handling of the incident, saying the government’s response lacked urgency.
“The university condemned the incident. I think their words are a bit bland,” Aufzien said in the “American Newsroom.” “I’m not looking for lip service. I want to act.”
Protests broke out after several students were expelled for distributing anti-Israel brochures and undermined Israeli history classes last month. Protesters storm a building in Barnard’s Campus, part of the Columbia University education system, next to the main campus in Columbia
Ovzien said the protest caught her off guard and initially did not realize how serious the situation was.
“I didn’t know there would be protests,” she said. “When I walked through the door and saw a huge ‘free Palestine’ banner landing from the second floor covered, I thought it was just a sit-in. I didn’t realize how violent it would be.”
Anti-Israel protesters at Barnard College arrested after mob turns violent
Anti-Israel protesters were presented at Barnard College in February 2025. (Getty; X)
A small group of protesters, many of whom covered their faces with masks or traditional Middle Eastern Keffiyehs, occupied the building and blocked students and staff from entering. A school employee was reportedly taken to the hospital after being beaten.
Protesters accused Barnard employees of harassing and selling students, and the school government tried to negotiate with the protesters. Talks broke down when officials asked protesters to remove conditions for facial cover for further discussion.
Ovzien is frustrated with how the school handles the confrontation.
“Barnard spent hours negotiating with protesters, but the terms of the negotiation should be immediately dispersed and proof of identification, or we are calling on police,” she said. “I’m really disappointed because the administrator is actually like showing that protesters get a card without Jill.”
New York City Elite Academy students expelled the class for threatening Hamas propaganda
The demonstrations are the latest in a series of campus protests nationwide in response to the Israel-Hamas war. Columbia University previously arrested more than 100 students on a massive arrest and resigned from the university’s president’s resignation last year.
A group of more than 50 anti-Israel protesters took over a building at Barnard College and allegedly attacked an employee Wednesday night. (x/@shoshanaaufzien)
Aufzien warned that without serious consequences, the situation could escalate like last year’s protests.
“I actually just want to go to class. It’s the mid-season,” she said.[My parents] I paid $95,000 in education every year and I couldn’t even get that education. sad. ”
She also stressed the seriousness of the protesters’ actions.
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“Protesters took hostages. They refused to let her go to the bathroom. They blocked students from getting education. It was not only a reason for condemnation, but a real change. That’s what I wanted to see, and I haven’t seen it yet.
Following the protests, Columbia University issued a statement alienating from Barnard, but affirmed that “the destruction of academic activities is unacceptable.”
