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Employee hospitalized after protesters rush Barnard campus building


Banners outside a building at Barnard College Associated Press / Photo by Seth Wenig

Employee hospitalized after protesters rush Barnard campus building

Masked protesters assaulted a Barnard College employee on Wednesday while forcibly entering Milbank Hall, Barnard's strategic communications vice president, Robin Levine, told WORLD. Levine did not specify the type of injury the employee received and only said the individual was taken to the hospital. Levine voiced safety concerns after protesters invited others to enter the New York City campus without identification for the protest.

School leaders offered to meet with the group if protesters removed their masks, but the group refused, according to Levine. The school also offered further mediation but warned that if protesters stayed in the building past 9:30 p.m., administrators would consider additional security measures. Laura Rosenbury, the president of the college, issued a statement late Wednesday night confirming that protesters had left the building around 11 p.m. after receiving a final written notice. Rosenbury credited faculty and staff for the protesters' peaceful exit and Levine added that the school made no concessions or promises of amnesty to protesters. The demonstrators attempted to undermine Barnard’s lynchpin values of respect and inclusion, Levine said in a statement to WORLD.

What were the students protesting? Students for Justice in Palestine at Columbia University, an affiliate of Barnard, posted videos of the protest that showed demonstrators wearing keffiyehs, beating drums, and chanting along a hallway. Protesters petitioned administrators to reverse the expulsion of two students and pardon all other students facing disciplinary measures for acting on pro-Palestinian sentiments, according to the post.

Dig deeper: Read my report from last May in WORLD Magazine for more background on Students for Justice in Palestine.


Christina Grube

Christina Grube is a graduate of the World Journalism Institute.


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