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With protests over Israel's war in Gaza continuing on college campuses across the U.S., administrators are negotiation with student groups, the University of Southern California cancelled the school's main commencement ceremony, and hundreds of students have been arrested.
 
At Columbia University, the epicenter of the protest movement following testimony on antisemitism before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce by president Minouche Shafik, D. Phil., negotiations were reportedly ongoing despite a rumored deadline of Thursday at midnight for students to vacate the campus lawn.
 
Since then hundreds of students have set up similar encampments from California to Massachusetts, leading to a national debate over free speech on college campuses as some Jewish students and administrators say the demonstrations have at times been sites of antisemitism.
 
Below is a selection of news stories from around the country:
 
Police Ratchet Up Use of Force on Campus Protesters
Inside Higher Ed (April 26, 2024)

Here’s What Student ‘Boycott, Divest, and Sanction’ Activists Are Demanding
The Chronicle of Higher Education (April 26, 2024)

Many Students Are Facing Campus Discipline for Protesting. What Could That Mean?
The Chronicle of Higher Education (April 26, 2024)

Here’s Where Student Protesters Are Demanding Divestment From Israel
The Chronicle of Higher Education (April 26, 2024)

At Emory, Protesters Face Gas and Police Force After Setting Up Encampment
The Chronicle of Higher Education (April 25, 2024)
 
College Protests Over Israel's War in Gaza Continue Following Hundreds of Arrests
USA Today (April 26, 2024)
 
More Arrests and a Canceled Commencement as College Antiwar Rallies Spread
The Washington Post (April 26, 2024)
 
‘DIVEST’: College Endowments Turn into Flash Point of Student Protests
The Washington Post (April 26, 2024)
 
Columbia’s University Senate Is Said to Consider Less Severe Action Against Its President
The New York Times (April 26, 2024)
 
Protesters Are Demanding Colleges Divest From Israel. Here’s Why That’s Not Happening.
The Wall Street Journal (April 26, 2024)
 
Pro-Palestinian Protests Grow at California Campuses as Opposing Demonstrators Clash at UCLA
Los Angeles Times (April 26, 2024)
 
USC Cancels ‘Main Stage’ Commencement Ceremony
Los Angeles Times (April 26, 2024)
 
Princeton U. Breaks Up Pro-Palestinian Encampment, Arrests Students
NJ.com (April 26, 2024)
 
Support for Pro-Palestinian Encampments at Emerson, MIT Only Growing, Students Say
MassLive.com (April 26, 2024)
 
Stanford Students Erect Pro-Palestine Encampment in Defiance of University's Rules
San Francisco Chronicle (April 25, 2024)
 
Anti-Israel Protesters Set Up ‘Intifada’ Tent Camp at State-Funded NYC College
New York Post (April 25, 2024)
 
Sprinklers Soak Harvard’s Anti-Israel Tent Camp at 2 Am: ‘The Biggest Threat’ to Protesters
New York Post (April 25, 2024)
 
 
The Palestine Exception to Academic Freedom Must Go - Commentary
The Chronicle of Higher Education (April 25, 2024)
 
The Divestment Encampments Don’t Make Any Sense - Commentary
Washington Monthly (April 25, 2024)
 

Private regional colleges with small student bodies and high acceptance rates will face increasingly stiff competition from public institutions as higher education braces for widespread demographic challenges, according to a new analysis from Moody’s Ratings. These issues will be particularly pronounced in the Midwest and Northeast, where the fight for a shrinking pool of students is expected to heat up. Moody’s analysts predicted higher education enrollment would plummet in these two regions in the coming years, citing a 2020 report from the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education. Driving up costs, small private colleges have increased spending on employee salaries and student wellness services since the start of the pandemic, Moody’s said. Analysts also noted that “maintaining small class sizes has become more expensive.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R- LA) met with Jewish students at Columbia University on Wednesday and called for the resignation of President Minouche Shafik, D.Phil., while chaos over the Israel-Hamas war continued spreading to college campuses nationwide. More than 100 students and other protestors were arrested as police moved against demonstrations on multiple campuses.
 
Below is a selection of stories from the national media:
 
A President Battered but Not Broken
Inside Higher Ed (April 25, 2024)
 
‘This Is Incredibly Scary’: Students Arrested at UT-Austin Protests
The Chronicle of Higher Education (April 25, 2025)
 
Here’s Where Student Protesters Are Demanding Divestment From Israel
The Chronicle of Higher Education (April 25, 2025)
 
Students Protesting on Campuses Across US Ask Colleges to Cut Investments Supporting Israel
The Associated Press (April 24, 2024)
 
Arrests at Universities Pile Up as Pro-Palestinian Protests Spread
The Wall Street Journal (April 25, 2024)
 
Protesters Are Demanding Colleges Divest From Israel. Here’s Why That’s Not Happening.
The Wall Street Journal (April 25, 2024)
 
They Entered College in Isolation and Leave in Protest: The Class That Missed Out on Fun
The Wall Street Journal (April 25, 2024)
 
Police Arrest 108 at Emerson College as Antiwar Student Protests Spread
The Washington Post (April 25, 2024)
 
Conflict Between University Protesters and Police Spreads Beyond Columbia
The Washington Post (April 25, 2024)
 
The Crackdown on Student Protesters (Audio)
The New York Times (April 25, 2024)
 
Anti-Israel Protesters at NYU Admit They Have No Idea What They’re Protesting: ‘I Wish I Was More Educated’
New York Post (April 25, 2024)
 
Harvard Tent City Pops Up as Princeton Students Prep Own Anti-Israel Protest Despite Warnings: ‘Immediately Barred From Campus’
New York Post (April 25, 2024)
 
LAPD Arrests 93 People at USC Amid Israel-Hamas War Protests
Los Angeles Times (April 25, 2024)
 
Pro-Palestinian Protesters at Emerson College Arrested Overnight
MassLive.com (April 25, 2024)
 
Police and Pro-Palestinian Protesters Clash at Boston's Emerson College (Video)
NBC News.com (April 25, 2024)
 
UT-Austin Professors Plan Protest With Students, PSC Calls for Hartzell's Resignation
Austin American-Statesman, TX (April 25, 2024)
 
UT-Austin Students Hold Pro-Palestinian Protest; At Least 50 Arrested
Austin American-Statesman, TX (April 25, 2024)
 
 
 
Some Anti-Israel Protesters Are Paid – Commentary
The Wall Street Journal (April 25, 2024)
 
Why Students Must Shout to Be Heard - Commentary
The Chronicle of Higher Education (April 25, 2024)
 
Campus Leaders Must Show Courage and Stop Radical Professors From Poisoning Young Minds - Commentary
New York Post (April 25, 2024)
 
Columbia President Minouche Shafik Allows Chaos and Antisemitism to Rule — She Must Go - Commentary
New York Post (April 25, 2024)
 

Columbia University and other elite college campuses continued to experience protests by pro-Palestinian groups for a third consecutive day.  The upsurge in protests followed testimony last week by Columbia University President Minouche Shafik, D. Phil., before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
 
Below is a selection of media coverage:
 
Why Are Students Camping on University Lawns?
Inside Higher Ed (April 24, 2024)
 
NYU Professors Arrested in Pro-Palestinian Protest
Inside Higher Ed (April 24, 2024)
 
Here’s Where Student Protesters Are Demanding Divestment From Israel
The Chronicle of Higher Education (April 24, 2024)
 
Pro-Palestinian Protests Ramp Up at Universities, Including NYU and Yale
Higher Ed Dive (April 24, 2024)
 
Columbia Protesters Begin Clearing Out After School Set Midnight Deadline
The Wall Street Journal (April 24, 2024)
 
After a Tense Night, Columbia Tries to Find a Way Forward
The New York Times (April 24, 2024)
 
Student Editorial Boards Rebuke College Officials for Protest Decisions
The New York Times (April 24, 2024)
 
Robert Kraft’s Fight Against Antisemitism Began Long Before Oct. 7
The New York Times (April 24, 2024)
 
Columbia Faces a Day That Lays Out Its Troubles
The New York Times (April 23, 2024)
 
Columbia Extends Deadline for Negotiations to Clear Campus Encampment
The Washington Post (April 24, 2024)
 
Why Students Are Protesting at Columbia, Other Colleges Over Israel-Gaza War
The Washington Post (April 24, 2024)
 
How Antiwar Student Protests Are Spreading Across U.S. Universities
The Washington Post (April 24, 2024)
 
‘We Will Not Move.’ Pro-Palestinian Encampments, Protests Grow at California Universities
Los Angeles Times (April 24, 2024)
 
Johnson Calls for Columbia President to Resign Ahead of University Visit
The Hill.com (April 24, 2024)
  
 
To Be (Visibly) Jewish in the Ivy League - Commentary
The New York Times (April 24, 2024)
 
I’m a Columbia Professor. The Protests on My Campus Are Not Justice. - Commentary
The New York Times (April 24, 2024)

Conner Hayes, a small business owner based in Nashville, TN, and a 2017 alum of Birmingham-Southern College, writes: Birmingham-Southern College, a Wall Street Journal “2024 Top Liberal Arts Colleges” institution; a college that battled for its existence for nearly two years; an institution jerked around by a fickle and unsympathetic state Legislature, has finally and formally been declared dead. Who delivered this deadly diagnosis? We did.