Columbia University on Monday began suspending student affiliation at the university for students who refused to leave a pro-Palestinian camp after negotiations with protesters failed and students ignored a warning that remaining on campus would jeopardize their status on campus.

The university said in press statements that the protest, which lasted for approximately two weeks, violated university policies, created an unwelcoming environment for Jewish students and represented a “noisy distraction” and inconvenience for those preparing for exams and the start of studies.

The demonstrators responded in defiance, surrounding the camp and chanting anti-Israel slogans, including “No more money for Israel’s crimes!” By Monday afternoon, dozens of students were still camped out in the middle of the university's Morningside campus, some dancing to Eastern music playing on a stereo. Most of the other protesters dispersed by late afternoon.

He was ordered to leave the camp by two o'clock in the afternoon. Monday marked the latest escalation in a standoff between administrators and protesters that began on April 18 when the New York City Police Department arrested 108 protesters. Since then, pro-Palestinian protests have grown on college campuses across the country, with arrests on Monday at Virginia Tech and the University of South Florida in Tampa. About 20 protesters at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio were arrested and released but were not charged, a university spokesperson said in an email.

At the University of Texas at Austin, riot police arrested 43 pro-Palestinian protesters Monday afternoon, George Loeb, an attorney with the Austin Bar Association who represents the protesters, told The Washington Post. Footage posted online from the campus mall showed police pepper-spraying demonstrators and loading protesters onto buses to take them to prison, which others then tried to prevent. “No camps will be allowed on campuses, instead, arrests will be made,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott (a right-wing Republican) wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The total number of arrests on campuses across the country over the past two weeks has exceeded 1,000, according to tracking by The Washington Post.

But at Northwestern University, after five days of demonstrations, officials agreed to allow limited pro-Palestinian protests through June 1, the last day of the spring semester. But the settlement reached with the protesters did not include cutting ties with Israeli companies, as they demanded.

At the White House, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday declined to comment on the escalating protests across the country, saying: “We will continue to say that all Americans have the right to peacefully protest. At the same time, we have to condemn any hate speech we hear. Anti-Semitism is a matter of concern.” 

At Columbia University, Monday began with Columbia University President Minouche Shafik announcing that negotiations to end the protest had reached a dead end and that the university would not divest from Israel as the protesters demanded. It offered greater investment transparency and a faster process for the university to consider future divestments.

“One group’s rights to express their opinions cannot come at the expense of another group’s right to speak, teach, and learn,” she wrote.

The university then distributed a notice to the protesters saying they were violating seven university policies, including those related to disruptive behavior and property damage. Officials said those who remained at the camp or who did not sign a pledge to abide by university rules would be suspended and barred from entering the campus, including academic, recreational and residential spaces.

Protest leaders called the university's plan "disgusting," and an email from Columbia desegregation warned that they would "escalate the intensity of protest on campus."

“I think everyone is somewhat worried about their future,” Mohamed Hamida, one of the protest organizers and a first-year student studying history and political science, told The Washington Post. But "we feel that this movement has the opportunity to draw the attention of the whole world" to the war in Gaza.

Dozens of police officers were just outside campus, but there was no indication that the university had asked them to act against the protesters in the park, and a Columbia University official said the university had not asked police to attend. NYPD spokeswoman Ina Lewis said the officers were “just here to be there.” Asked if they could go to campus, Lewis said, "We are not on campus at this time."

As the deadline passed Monday afternoon, faculty members wearing bright orange vests acted as crowd control and distributed gallons of water.

The university notice, which was distributed on the last day of classes, stated that students must identify themselves to a university official upon departure and sign a statement pledging to abide by university policies until June 2025. It also stated that those who do so will be eligible to finish their semester in Good situation.