Metadata

• When: 2025-04-17

• Where: Columbia University

Description

Several Columbia student groups posted fliers on social media about a “Day of Action” on 4/17/2025. The flier reads, “resist the consent decree! Calls to action: Do not attend classes! Mask up! Attend the rally, open forum, and march!”. The flier outlined the schedule as follows:

• Rally on Sundial at 12:30pm

• Open forum at 1:30pm

• March at 2:30pm

Another flier also circulated that read “Hands off. Emergency Rally” with images of Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi. CUSU, ColumbiaJVP , and SWC UAW 2710 are included on the flier.

CUStudentUnion posted about “Protest Safety and Calls to Action” on Instagram. The post offers advice for not being identified including wearing “black/non-descript clothing,” covering up tattoos, piercings, and eyebrows, wearing a mask and covering your head, not swiping your CUID and avoiding the Columbia WiFi.

The protest took place at the Sundial as planned and featured many masked participants. A pamphlet was passed out. The cover read: “Columbia University Student Union Student Strike.” The pamphlet encourages students to sign a strike pledge and includes information about the strike. “There can be no business as usual while our peers are kidnapped and our trustees orchestrated our brutalization.”

Eventually the group marched loudly around the lawn and in front of academic buildings including Butler Library, which disrupted students studying. As a result of the protest and marching, public safety was forced to close the gates for safety. Chants included slogans about divestment, “free our students,” and “fascist USA”. It does not look like public safety asked anyone for identification despite disruption to academic activities, face coverings used to hide identities, and potentially antisemitic chanting.

Footer

Please see the Footer page for important reference information regarding usage rights, inquiries, and other matters.