Student's open letter calling out Barnard gets more than 1,000 signatures

Barnard College has seen weeks of anti-Israel unrest stone its campus, with students taking implicit buildings. Eliana Birman, a Jewish pupil astatine Barnard, co-wrote a missive with chap Barnard pupil Shoshana Aufzien demanding accountability from the college. The unfastened missive has gotten astir 1,300 signatures successful a substance of days.

Birman told Fox News Digital that the missive was meant arsenic a nonstop effect to an email from the Barnard Student Government Association (SGA) condemning the assemblage for calling constabulary to intervene successful the unrest.

"My friends and I, particularly Shoshana and I, were precise frustrated with it due to the fact that we didn't deliberation that the email from the Barnard pupil authorities truly represented us, due to the fact that we honestly felt safer having constabulary connected our field erstwhile determination was a weaponry menace and erstwhile we were successful an exigency situation," Birman told Fox News Digital. "And we don't deliberation that having the constabulary committedness to ne'er travel connected to field is for the betterment of the information of our community."

NYPD cleared pro-Palestinian demonstrators from Barnard College aft a radical of pupil protesters occupied Milstein Library connected Wednesday night. ( Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images)

​TRUMP CUTS MORE THAN $400 MILLION IN GRANTS TO COLUMBIA OVER ANTISEMITISM CONCERNS, POTENTIALLY MORE TO COME

The NYPD was called to Barnard College’s field connected March 5 implicit a weaponry menace that came aft hours of anti-Israel agitators demonstrating successful Milstein Center, Barnard’s library. Multiple agitators were arrested during the operation.

"Anyone who refuses to permission the determination is taxable to arrest," the NYPD said successful an X station confirming its effect to the threat. "Please enactment distant from the area."

Barnard SGA released its missive connected Instagram, saying it "strongly condemns" the constabulary beingness connected campus, saying the schoolhouse broke "a long-standing promise." When asked astir the "promise" mentioned successful the letter, Birman said she did not cognize to what SGA was referring.

The SGA besides listed 3 demands successful the letter: first, "amnesty for each students connected to the Milstein Library sit-in"; second, "a good-faith negotiation" with elder staff, SGA and pupil protesters; and third, the restructuring of Barnard’s disciplinary process to 1 that involves students arsenic good arsenic faculty.

Anti-Israel enactment astatine Columbia University reached a fever transportation past outpouring with an infamous encampment connected the field quad. Birman believes that messaging is inactive having an interaction connected pupil agitators. Barnard is an authoritative assemblage of Columbia University, and the institutions person a long-standing relationship.

A "Free Palestine" emblem hangs wrong a gathering astatine Barnard College successful NYC. (X/Columbia Jewish & Israeli Students)

​COLUMBIA PROFESSOR SLAMS UNIVERSITY LEADERSHIP AS ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS WREAK HAVOC AT BARNARD

"I mean, decidedly a batch of it comes from societal media, without a doubt. But a batch of it is conscionable repeating what's been heard successful the past. What has been repeated since past outpouring connected campus," Birman told Fox News Digital. 

Birman told Fox News Digital that, contempt the anti-Israel agitators’ demonstrations connected campus, she mostly felt physically harmless until the weaponry threat.

"Most of the time, I consciousness wholly harmless conscionable walking astir the field with my canine tag, my Star of David, each those things. But erstwhile these protests are flaring up, I truly bash person to beryllium cautious astir wherever I spell and who I talk to and who I marque oculus interaction with. And I conscionable person to beryllium a small spot much intentional astir everything I do," Birman said.

Pro-Palestinian pupil protesters show extracurricular Barnard College successful New York connected Feb. 27, 2025, the greeting aft pro-Palestinian pupil protesters stormed a Barnard College gathering to protestation the expulsion past period of 2 students who interrupted a assemblage people connected Israel.  (TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Overall, Birman is not satisfied with Barnard’s handling of antisemitism connected campus. She told Fox News Digital that the assemblage is making "great Fstrides" recently, but it inactive has country for improvement. 

"I deliberation the biggest facet of that is acknowledging that what's happening is antisemitism. They're acknowledging that it's a signifier of hate, and they're acknowledging that it's intimidation and that it's creating a consciousness of unrest connected campus. But they haven't truly said thing astir antisemitism specifically. And I don't truly cognize why," Birman said.

Barnard College did not instantly respond to Fox News Digital’s petition for remark connected Birman’s missive and the "promise" mentioned successful the SGA’s statement.