College protests updates: Police begin dismantling University of Chicago encampment
Police entered the campus encampment early Tuesday, WLS reported.
Protests have broken out at colleges and universities across the country in connection with the war in Gaza.
Many pro-Palestinian protesters are calling for their colleges to divest of funds from Israeli military operations, while some Jewish students on the campuses have called the protests antisemitic and said they are scared for their safety.
The student protests -- some of which have turned into around-the-clock encampments -- have erupted throughout the nation following arrests and student removals at Columbia University in New York City. Students at schools including Yale University, New York University, Harvard University, University of Texas at Austin, University of Southern California and more have launched protests.
Latest headlines:
- Over 300 Harvard professors sign letter urging Harvard to negotiate with protesters
- Police begin dismantling encampment at University of Chicago
- MIT students ordered to leave campus encampment
- More than 60 arrests made at UC San Diego
- Harvard president threatens 'involuntary leave' for students who continue encampment
NYPD says Hamilton Hall, encampment cleared at Columbia
The NYPD said Tuesday night that Hamilton Hall and the encampment have been cleared.
In a short media briefing, the NYPD said the only thing that remains are the tents at the encampment, which the university will clear.
No injuries have been reported, the NYPD said.
An official also said no tear gas was deployed Tuesday night.
-ABC News' Joshua Hoyos
Nearly 50 arrests so far at Columbia: Police sources
There have been about four dozen arrests so far by the NYPD at Columbia University, according to police sources.
The first bus of protesters apprehended by police just left the campus area.
-ABC News' Aaron Katersky
Police head toward encampments after clearing a fortified Hamilton Hall
Police officers were met with a heavily fortified building when they entered Hamilton Hall on Tuesday night, sources told ABC News.
There have been a number of arrests, however no specific number was immediately available.
With the situation at Hamilton Hall believed to be contained, a number of officers are making their way from building to tent encampments.
-ABC News' Aaron Katersky
Columbia asks NYPD to 'retain a presence' through May 17
Columbia University has asked the NYPD to "retain a presence on campus through at least May 17."
The request came in the letter the university sent to the NYPD Tuesday night, allowing them to move onto campus grounds.
-ABC News' Aaron Katersky and Joshua Hoyos
Harvard president threatens 'involuntary leave' for students who continue encampment
Harvard University students who continue to take part in the pro-Palestinian protest encampment at the school will be “referred for involuntary leave,” the university’s interim president, Alan M. Garber, said Monday.
In a letter to the student body, Garber called on protesters “to end the occupation of Harvard Yard,” arguing that the encampment “favors the voices of a few over the rights of many who have experienced disruption in how they learn and work at a critical time of the semester.”
Students placed on involuntary leave “may not be able to sit for exams, may not continue to reside in Harvard housing, and must cease to be present on campus until reinstated,” he wrote.
“As an academic institution, we do not shy away from hard and important questions,” Garber wrote. “There are many ways for our community to engage constructively in reasoned discussion of complex issues, but initiating these difficult and crucial conversations does not require, or justify, interfering with the educational environment and Harvard’s academic mission.”
-ABC News' Julia Reinstein