A faculty rights organization at Columbia University criticized the administration’s handling of an anti-Israel demonstration at the campus library on Wednesday, which led to numerous arrests.
A letter from the executive committee of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) at Columbia, aimed at discussing the “erosion of shared governance,” condemned a decision by acting president Claire Shipman to enlist the help of the NYPD.
The protest erupted on Wednesday afternoon when anti-Israel activists invaded Butler Library, occupying a reading room inside and forcing open one of the building’s exterior doors. Two campus police officers sustained injuries during the protest.
The NYPD said 80 arrests were made, and Fox News learned approximately 50 of those people were confirmed to be Columbia students.
Prior to Wednesday’s protest, Shipman had said she would be reviewing and reforming the University Senate, which is a governing body at Columbia made up of elected representatives from all departments on campus, amid negotiations with the federal government over the drastic cut in funding to the university.
In March, Columbia lost more than $400 million in federal grants after the Trump administration said the school failed to address the rise in antisemitism on campus.
President Donald Trump is pushing back on anti-Israel protests on college campuses, including Columbia University, by withholding $400 million in federal funding. (Getty Images)
The AAUP called on her not to follow through with the review as the university is experiencing a “moment of crisis,” adding that it “strenuously objects to both the timing and the plan” for it.
“In imposing this review at this time and in this manner, the President and the Board of Trustees are taking aim at shared governance and replacing it with top-down corporate management, indicating a profound misunderstanding of what university leadership and fiduciary obligations require,” the group said.
The group shared a list of six recommendations, which call for a “unified response to the current crisis” instead of dismantling the decision-making structures that have been in place for decades.
Protest stickers were put on the doors at Butler Library at Columbia University’s campus on May 7, 2025 in New York City. (Indy Scholtens/Getty Images)
The AAUP has also been vocal in its criticism of Columbia for punishing, suspending and expelling students involved in anti-Israel protests on campus.
One of the group’s recommendations includes radically enhancing “mediation, consultation and de-escalation protocols for immediate deployment during campus disturbances, especially student protests.”
