Columbia switches to hybrid learning amid protests over Israel’s war in Gaza

NEW YORK (AP) — Columbia University’s main campus will switch to hybrid learning for the rest of the semester amid protests over Israel’s war with Hamas that have roiled colleges across the U.S., officials announced.

“Safety is our highest priority as we strive to support our students’ learning and all the required academic operations,” the Ivy League university’s provost, Angela V. Olinto, and chief operating officer, Cas Holloway, said in a statement late Monday.

The move came after more than 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had camped out on Columbia’s upper Manhattan campus were arrested last week.

Students have protested Israel’s war in Gaza at many campuses in recent weeks, including at New York University a few miles south of Columbia, where an encampment swelled to hundreds of protesters and police began to make arrests Monday night.

A police spokesperson said he did not know how many NYU protesters had been arrested. University spokesperson John Beckman said NYU was carrying on with classes Tuesday.

Since the war began, colleges and universities nationwide have struggled to balance safety with free speech rights. Many schools long tolerated protests but are now doling out more heavy-handed discipline.