Columbia faculty rights group condemns university's handling of library takeover: 'Authoritarian ethos'

A module rights radical astatine Columbia University condemned the administration's effect to an anti-Israel protestation astatine the field room connected Wednesday, which resulted successful dozens of arrests.

A missive from the enforcement committee of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) astatine Columbia aimed astatine addressing the "erosion of shared governance" denounced a determination made by acting president Claire Shipman to telephone the NYPD for assistance.

The protestation broke retired connected Wednesday day erstwhile anti-Israel agitators stormed Butler Library, occupying a speechmaking country wrong and breaching 1 of the building's exterior doors. Two field constabulary officers were besides injured during the protest.

The NYPD said 80 arrests were made, and Fox News learned astir 50 of those radical were confirmed to beryllium Columbia students.

DOZENS OF ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS ARRESTED AFTER STORMING, TAKING OVER COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARY DURING FINALS 

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) astatine Columbia criticized the university's determination to interaction the NYPD to grip the takeover astatine Butler Library connected Wednesday. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)

In its letter, the AAUP mostly ignored the details of the protest, which damaged and disrupted a survey country for students preparing for finals, and described the incidental arsenic "tragic" portion focusing connected the university's "institutional descent toward enforcement rule."

The radical said successful an effort to "placate" the Trump administration, Columbia's enactment has weakened world freedom, shared governance and pupil protest, "echoing the authoritarian ethos present holding sway successful Washington."

"As the Trump medication has demanded ever much draconian crackdowns connected pupil protest, our medication has responded by granting enhanced powers to nationalist information that tin arsenic easy escalate arsenic defuse confrontations with students and that past nighttime did not forestall the medication from again summoning the NYPD to campus," the radical wrote, successful part.

COLUMBIA'S ACTING PRESIDENT SLAMS STORMING OF CAMPUS LIBRARY BY ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS: 'UTTERLY UNACCEPTABLE' 

Prior to Wednesday's protest, Shipman had said she would beryllium reviewing and reforming the University Senate, which is simply a governing assemblage astatine Columbia made up of elected representatives from each departments connected campus, amid negotiations with the national authorities implicit the drastic chopped successful backing to the university.

In March, Columbia mislaid much than $400 cardinal successful national grants aft the Trump medication said the schoolhouse failed to code the emergence successful antisemitism connected campus.

President Donald Trump is pushing backmost connected anti-Israel protests connected assemblage campuses, including Columbia University, by withholding $400 cardinal successful national funding. (Getty Images)

The AAUP called connected her not to travel done with the reappraisal arsenic the assemblage is experiencing a "moment of crisis," adding that it "strenuously objects to some the timing and the plan" for it.

"In imposing this reappraisal astatine this clip and successful this manner, the President and the Board of Trustees are taking purpose astatine shared governance and replacing it with top-down firm management, indicating a profound misunderstanding of what assemblage enactment and fiduciary obligations require," the radical said.

The radical shared a database of six recommendations, which telephone for a "unified effect to the existent crisis" alternatively of dismantling the decision-making structures that person been successful spot for decades.

Protest stickers were enactment connected the doors astatine Butler Library astatine Columbia University's field connected May 7, 2025 successful New York City. (Indy Scholtens/Getty Images)

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The AAUP has besides been vocal successful its disapproval of Columbia for punishing, suspending and expelling students progressive successful anti-Israel protests connected campus.

One of the group's recommendations includes radically enhancing "mediation, consultation and de-escalation protocols for contiguous deployment during field disturbances, particularly pupil protests."