College protests updates: Police crackdown leads to hundreds of arrests

During a visit to Columbia University, House Speaker Mike Johnson joined his New York House Republican colleagues in calling on the school's president, Minouche Shafik, to resign unless she can improve what he called her failure to handle the anti-Israel protests on campus.

During the news conference on the university's campus, Johnson said Shafik should step down "if she can't immediately bring order to this chaos."

"As speaker of the House, I am committing today that the Congress will not be silent as Jewish students are expected to run for their lives and stay home from -- fighting in fear," Johnson said.

The scene at the news conference was rowdy itself, as Johnson and other House Republicans got booed and heckled throughout -- their words sometimes nearly drowned out by shouting from the crowd.

Shafik, who met with Johnson on Wednesday, and the rest of the university administration are committed to ensuring the safety of the campus community and ending the encampment, Columbia spokesman Ben Chang said in a briefing with reporters later on Wednesday.

-ABC News' Lauren Peller and Sarah Beth Hensley

Andrew T. Guzman, the provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs at the University of Southern California, sent a letter to the school's students, faculty and other members with an update on the situation taking place on campus.

Guzman reiterated the university "values freedom of expression and protects the right of every member of our community to express themselves," but added, "We have well-established policies regarding limits on the time, place, and manner of free expression."

Guzman said the call to shut down the campus stemmed from a confrontation between protesters outside the Doheny Library and security. Security members asked the protesters, many of whom Guzman said weren't affiliated with USC, to leave and remove tents they set up, but the protesters refused, according to the school.

"Their actions have escalated to the point of confrontation and have threatened the safety of our officers and campus community," Guzman said.

Until further notice, only people with "USC identification or verifiable business purpose will be able to access campus, attend classes, and participate in activities" will be allowed on campus, according to Guzman.

"In these challenging times, we call on the Trojan Family to remember that every member of our community is deserving of respect, has the right to be safe on campus, take classes, and participate in other campus activities without fear of harassment or bullying. It should be everyone’s priority to treat each other with kindness and care," he said.

-ABC News' Jenna Harrison

Columbia University President Minouche Shafik and administrators said they are committed to ensuring the campus community's safety and ending the encampment following their meeting with House Speaker Mike Johnson, a school spokesman told the press.

Ben Chang, the school's vice president of the Office of Public Affairs, told reporters that the encampment on the west lawn has raised serious safety concerns, but the university has been in a dialogue with students on ending it and those discussions will be "successful."

He refuted rumors that the National Guard would become involved and called those reports false and "unsubstantiated." Chang said that the university has been in contact with the NYPD and will continue to be going forward.

The university will have to consider "alternative options" to end the encampment in time for graduation, according to Chang.

Protesters so far have already committed to dismantling "a significant number" of tents and only Columbia students will be involved in the encampment at this point, he added.

For the time being, the Morningside campus will only be open for people with a Columbia ID, Chang said.

-ABC News' Victoria Arancio

At least 20 people have been arrested at the University of Texas at Austin, according to the school.

“UT Austin does not tolerate disruptions of campus activities or operations like we have seen at other campuses," the UT Division of Student Affairs said in a statement. "This is an important time in our semester with students finishing classes and studying for finals and we will act first and foremost to allow those critical functions to proceed without interruption."

The University of Texas at Austin's Office of the Dean of Students sent a letter to the Palestine Solidarity Committee Tuesday night saying the protest was not allowed to take place.

"The Palestine Solidarity Committee student organization's event 'Popular University for Gaza,' which is planned for tomorrow, has declared intent to violate our policies and rules, and disrupt our campus operations. Such disruptions are never allowed and are especially damaging while our students prepare for the end of the semester and final exams. For these reasons, this event may not proceed as planned," the letter, obtained by ABC News, stated.