On Monday, March 3, Barnard President Laura Rosenbury published an op-ed in The Chronicle Of Higher Education addressing recent student protests and student expulsions. Rosenbury shared the op-ed in an email to the Barnard community on Tuesday, March 4.

On Monday, Barnard President Laura Rosenbury authored an op-ed in The Chronicle Of Higher Education titled “When Student Protest Goes Too Far.” On Tuesday, Rosenbury shared the article in an email to the Barnard community. 

According to the email, the op-ed was a response to questions from the Barnard community regarding “the disruption at Milbank Hall” and how Barnard is keeping its community safe. Rosenbury stated that the op-ed outlines Barnard’s approach to recent protests and demonstrations and “why it matters both here at Barnard and at colleges across the country.”

In the op-ed’s heading, Rosenbury declares, “I’m the president of Barnard. This is my line in the sand.” This statement comes after she has faced criticism over the past year regarding her and the College’s response to student protests, with Barnard faculty passing a unanimous vote of no confidence in her leadership.

Rosenbury begins the piece by writing that “higher education is at an inflection point,” and that “small liberal-arts colleges, are being tested” in particular. She establishes the history of the College, highlighting Barnard’s campus as a home for those “driven by intellectual curiosity.”

In reflecting on protests disrupting a History of Modern Israel course at Columbia and last week’s sit-in at Barnard Hall, Rosenbury argues that the disruptions were “an escalation of an ongoing threat to [the Barnard] community.” According to Rosenbury, the protesters “[engaged] in activity utterly at odds with [Barnard’s] mission” and “caused $30,000 in damages.”

Throughout the op-ed, Rosenbury reiterates that the protesters are not a representation of the Barnard community and that “Columbia University Apartheid Divest [CUAD] have exploited the conflict in the Middle East to try to tear [the] campus community [apart],” 

Regarding masked protesters, Rosenbury warns that though “all of the disruptors wore masks,” the administration has now identified and continues to identify more protesters. Rosenbury writes that Barnard “will vigorously pursue discipline and other remedies against those who forcibly and illegitimately entered the building, damaged or destroyed property, disregarded [the Barnard] community expectations, and violated many policies and rules.”

She also directly addresses “those who hide behind masks,” and invites protesters “to step forward, not in anonymity but in dialogue.” She claims to “welcome respectful conversation in a space of shared learning and accountability,” but insists that this requires “knowing who is at the table.” This statement comes after a reported proposal for a University-wide mask ban that was discussed in University Senate meetings. 

Regarding the expulsion of three Barnard students, Rosenbury states that “expulsion is always an extraordinary measure” but maintains that “[the College] did what needed to be done, and … will continue to do so.”

According to statements from CUAD, the two students expelled last week are Columbia’ first protest-related expulsions since 1968 and mark the “first expulsions for pro-Palestinian protests.” On Monday, CUAD reported that a third student had been expelled, holding a protest Tuesday in response.

To conclude the piece, Rosenbury asserts that “Barnard had the courage to take a stand” and that “to protect and defend higher education, others must do the same.”

Email from President Rosenbury to students on March 4, at 1:00 pm:

Dear Members of the Barnard Community,

Barnard is, above all, a place of learning and respect. Over the past few days, many of you have asked about the disruption at Milbank Hall and how we are keeping  our community safe.

I wanted to share an op-ed I published in The Chronicle of Higher Education that outlines our approach, and why it matters both here at Barnard and at colleges across the country.

I am also sharing the text below:

Higher education is at an inflection point. Across the country, colleges, and especially small liberal-arts colleges, are being tested. Some question whether we are still fulfilling our central mission and preparing students for a rapidly changing and increasingly polarized world.

As the president of Barnard College, a vibrant liberal-arts college for women in New York City, I’ve had countless opportunities to reflect on — and defend — the goals of our intimate academic community as they are increasingly under attack. Like other places of higher learning, Barnard seeks to provide students with tools to understand and critically examine the world around them. But Barnard isn’t just a place of learning. Barnard is also our home. We are a community of individuals driven by intellectual curiosity who have chosen to study, teach, and work together. The college was founded in 1889 after Columbia University refused to admit women, and we continue to value rigorous learning that is unabashedly committed to the empowerment of women.

On the first day of classes this January, four masked individuals threatened both our educational mission and our community by disrupting a History of Modern Israel course at Columbia in which several Barnard students were enrolled. This disruption was not designed to expand thinking or advance civil discourse. Instead, it was a calculated act of intimidation, with the disruptors taunting and loudly speaking over the professor, distributing antisemitic flyers, and refusing to join the discussion even when the professor graciously invited them to sit in on the class.

This wasn’t an isolated incident but an escalation of an ongoing threat to our community. Over the last year and a half, an unauthorized group of anonymous individuals calling themselves Columbia University Apartheid Divest have exploited the conflict in the Middle East to try to tear our campus community — our Barnard home — apart.

They operate in the shadows, hiding behind masks and Instagram posts with Molotov cocktails aimed at Barnard buildings, antisemitic tropes about wealth, influence, and “Zionist billionaires,” and calls for violence and disruption at any cost. They claim Columbia University’s name, but the truth is, because their members wear masks, no one really knows whose interests they serve. Columbia has disavowed the group.

This group seized the moment when they learned about the expulsions of the two Barnard students who participated in the classroom disruption. “We disrupted a Zionist class, and you should too,” they announced in a widely circulated post. And on the afternoon of February 26, they forced their way through a fire exit at Barnard’s Milbank Hall, knocking down a community-safety employee in the process.

The disruptors continued to engage in activity utterly at odds with our mission. They broke into our Access Barnard offices, where first-generation, low-income, and international students come for academic and social support, food pantry access, and supplemental funding. They berated the dean of the college — who spent hours working in good faith to de-escalate — for simply seeking access to a bathroom. They caused $30,000 in damages to a building that houses not just the offices of the president and the dean of the college, but also multiple classrooms and the offices that seek to further diversity, equity, and inclusion at Barnard.

Barnard successfully de-escalated the situation without further violence, fully clearing Milbank Hall by 10:40 p.m. that night — without NYPD intervention, without making concessions, without granting amnesty, and without allowing an overnight occupation. By doing so, we ensured that classes could resume in the morning.

Even though all of the disruptors wore masks, we now know the identity of many of them and are continuing to identify the rest. We will vigorously pursue discipline and other remedies against those who forcibly and illegitimately entered the building, damaged or destroyed property, disregarded our community expectations, and violated many policies and rules.

To those who hide behind masks, we invite you to step forward, not in anonymity but in dialogue. We welcome respectful conversation in a space of shared learning and accountability. That requires knowing who is at the table.

Last week was a test, set in motion by Barnard’s decision to act decisively after the classroom disruption. Expulsion is always an extraordinary measure, but we did what needed to be done, and we will continue to do so.

That means removing from our community those who refuse to share our values of respect, inclusion, and academic excellence. That means a disciplinary process that is fair, with an appeals process that does not include taking a building hostage.

Even when under enormous pressure from outside groups, we will ensure our community is safe and free from discrimination and intimidation, while also supporting students as they grow, learn, and make mistakes. We will stand strong and act thoughtfully, even while being criticized for being both too punitive and not punitive enough.

Disrupting classes and defacing buildings to intimidate and divide our community is not academic exploration. It is a betrayal of the goals and sanctity of higher education.

Barnard had the courage to take a stand. To protect and defend higher education, others must do the same.

In partnership and with hope for the future,
Laura Ann Rosenbury
President, Barnard College

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