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
Dozens of protesters detained at UCLA
Several dozen protesters were detained on UCLA’s campus Monday morning, according to Los Angeles ABC station KABC.
University officials said all classes would be held remotely Monday “due to ongoing disruptions,” and police would be stationed around campus.
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
Emory to move commencement ceremony off campus
Emory University in Atlanta announced Monday they will be moving commencement activities off campus, citing "concerns about safety and security."
"Please know that this decision was not taken lightly. It was made in close consultation with the Emory Police Department, security advisors, and other agencies — each of which advised against holding Commencement events on our campuses," Emory President Gregory Fenves wrote in a message to the university.
The commencement ceremonies will now be held in Duluth, about a half hour from campus, the university said.
On April 25, there were 28 people arrested, including 20 affiliated with Emory University, during a protest on campus, according to the school.
-ABC News' Ahmad Hemingway
Columbia will not hold campuswide commencement
Columbia University announced Monday it will not hold a campuswide commencement ceremony on May 15 as originally scheduled.
Columbia will focus on the smaller, school-based ceremonies instead based on "input and feedback from student leaders," the school said.
"Our students emphasized that these smaller-scale, school-based celebrations are most meaningful to them and their families," the school said in a statement. "They are eager to cross the stage to applause and family pride and hear from their school’s invited guest speakers."
The smaller school ceremonies will begin on Friday. Columbia said it may hold "a festive event" on May 15 instead. Security concerns were among the reasons the larger ceremony was canceled.
One of the reasons Columbia said it had called in the New York Police Department last Tuesday was in order to make room for the schoolwide ceremony in the same location as the encampment.
USC protest encampment being cleared: Police
A pro-Palestinian encampment on the campus of the University of Southern California was being cleared Sunday morning as campus police warned protesters to leave or be arrested.
The announcement came as the USC Department of Public Safety closed the campus "as a result of significant activity at the center of campus."
"If you are in the center of campus, please leave. People who don’t leave will be arrested. We will issue another alert when it is clear to return," the DPS said on X.
The campus police said officers from the Los Angeles Police Department are assisting in "clearing the center" of the University Park Campus.
Sunday's action came after USC President Carol Folt sent an email to the school's community, saying "steps would be taken to ensure a quiet and safe environment for students to complete their finals."
“[L]et me be absolutely clear: free speech and assembly do not include the right to obstruct equal access to campus, damage property, or foment harassment, violence, and threats,” Folt said. “Nor is anyone entitled to obstruct the normal functions of our university, including commencement."
-ABC News' Cory Peeler