News | student life

CUAD holds press conference, confirms University commitment to no NYPD involvement for next 48 hours

The press conference follows a Wednesday morning University email saying student representatives had agreed to four commitments during negotiations.

By Gabriella Gregor Splaver / Senior Staff Photographer
The announcement follows a tense night at the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” as the initial midnight deadline for negotiations expired and student organizers left the negotiation table.
By Amira McKee, Claire Cleary, Apurva Chakravarthy, and Manuela Silva • April 24, 2024 at 9:23 PM

Updated on April 24 at 6:11 p.m.

Columbia has agreed to not involve the New York Police Department or the National Guard regarding the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” for the next 48 hours, Columbia University Apartheid Divest announced in a press conference on Wednesday.

“Early this morning, we won the concession that the University will not call law enforcement on our peaceful protest,” Khymani James, CC ’25, an organizer, said at the press conference. “Negotiations are now able to proceed, although on unstable ground. While we have received written assurances that our encampment will continue, the University continues to make threats in its attempt to stifle students’ political speech.”

Another student demonstrator at the briefing specified that after the 48 hours, “there are no guarantees about holding off.”

The University declined to provide further comment and directed Spectator to University President Minouche Shafik’s Wednesday morning email to the community.

”I very much hope these discussions are successful,” Shafik wrote in her email. ”If they are not, we will have to consider alternative options for clearing the West Lawn and restoring calm to campus so that students can complete the term and graduate.”

The announcement follows a tense night at the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” as the initial midnight negotiation deadline expressed in a Tuesday night email from Shafik expired and Columbia University Apartheid Divest negotiators announced that they left the table.

In her Tuesday email, sent just over two hours before midnight, Shafik warned that would consider “alternative options” for clearing South Lawn if the negotiations with student organizers weren’t “successful.” In a statement posted on X at 12:13 a.m. on Wednesday by the Columbia chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, protesters announced that student organizers were leaving the negotiation table until they received written assurances that the University would not involve the NYPD or the National Guard.

“Without assurances of good faith bargaining and protections for nonviolent protestors against police and military violence, we will not be returning to the table,” Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia student on the CUAD negotiating team, said in the statement.

Less than three hours later, a University spokesperson wrote in a 3:03 a.m. statement to Spectator that the University will continue conversations with student organizers for the next 48 hours “in light of this constructive dialogue.”

The Office of the President sent an email to the Columbia community at 4:09 a.m. outlining four commitments to which student protesters at the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” had agreed, including dismantling several tents, ensuring only Columbia students participate in the encampment, and complying with Fire Department of New York regulations. The email also notes that the protesters had “taken steps to make the encampment welcome to all and have prohibited discriminatory or harassing language.”

In response to a question about the timeline of the negotiations, James said that on Tuesday evening, “there was a lot of information being thrown around, and I think it was intentional.”

“And that is what we’ve been sort of getting at in terms of the bad faith negotiations that has been taking place between our student negotiators and the University,” James said.

In regards to dismantling tents, James said that “visually looking, it looks the exact same as it did yesterday.”

On the commitment to prohibit “discriminatory or harassing language,” James said that “we do not allow any harassment whatsoever within the encampment, outside the encampment.”

“We are very stern on this being an anti-oppression space,” James said. “That specific request from the University is something that we’ve been fulfilling since day one.”

Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Wednesday's press conference was hosted by SJP. SJP announced the conference in a public statement on Wednesday, but CUAD hosted it. Spectator regrets this error.

Head of Investigations Amira McKee can be contacted at amira.mckee@columbiaspectator.com. Follow her on X @_amiramckee.

Deputy News Editor Claire Cleary can be contacted at claire.cleary@columbiaspectator.com. Follow her on X @clairecleary_.

Deputy News Editor Apurva Chakravarthy can be contacted at apurva.chakravarthy@columbiaspectator.com. Follow Spectator on X @ColumbiaSpec.

City News Editor Manuela Silva can be contacted at manuela.silva@columbiaspectator.com. Follow her on X @manuelas957.

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