As the Israel-Hamas war continues, the tension is being felt all over the world. Columbia University, which has a long history of campus protests, is experiencing a large uprising in student-led protesting that is causing problems for the Ivy League school. Iva-Amanda Nelson ‘23, a citizen of St. Lucia, is a first-year at Columbia. Nelson’s perspective is different from that shared in most news coverage.
Photos by Amanda Neslon ’23
Currently, the university is investing in and partnering with weapon manufacturers. The University has placed graduates with the corporations involved in those partnerships for years. The protests started this fall after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, calling for divestment and disassociation from the manufacturers.
“Students are doing what is called an encampment,” Amanda said. “They are literally living in tents out around the campus. Some students spend all day in tents, and only leave for meals and previously classes, but now all classes have been moved to virtual because of the protests. There is also a large congregation of people right outside my dorm.”
The encampment is inspired by 1968 campus protests against the Vietnam War and Columbia’s association with the US government and corporations supporting the war effort. Like today, those protests also saw encampments and building occupations.
History has repeated itself, and once again, almost 60 years later, Columbia students have discovered links between the administration and weapon manufacturers supplying the Israel-Hamas conflict.
“Every student wants our school to divest from the war. There are people here who are pro-Israel, and on the other side, there are people that are pro-Palestine, but there’s not a single person that is in favor of the Columbia administration,” Amanda continued. “I don’t like that our school is supporting violence, but I cannot protest myself. The police have been arresting people, and that’s scary for me because I’m an international student. If I get arrested, I will get deported.”
On April 30, students broke windows in the Hamilton administration building, so the Mayor of New York ordered the police to Columbia, and the university president allowed hundreds of NYPD to sweep the encampment in riot gear and arrest the students who entered the building. The students were tear-gassed and are facing criminal charges.
“I’m shaken up,” Nelson said. “It’s not easy to be a full-time student in the middle of all this.”
There is no word on when the protests will stop. Some students might stay over the summer, and some might go home and come back to the protests, but the consensus is that the protests will continue until a change is made.
Amanda’s sister Christie-Ann attends Northwestern, and I was told that similar things are starting to brew among the student body there.
Columbia students have started a widespread campaign to urge people to remember their humanity and consider whether doing the right thing is more important than money.
“The whole situation is surreal,” Amanda concluded. “I hope the administration makes a change soon and listens to us. It feels like we have no power as students and need that to change.”
Let this be a lesson for all people to consider the importance of their values. Sticking to your values as a human is more important than money.