Protestors Sneak Onto Columbia Campus Through Gap in Amsterdam Gates
Multiple protestors gained unauthorized access to the Morningside campus on Saturday night and early Sunday morning.
Video courtesy Eliana Goldin
On Saturday night, multiple protestors gained unauthorized access to the Morningside campus through a gap in the Amsterdam Avenue and 116th Street gates, according to several witnesses at the scene. Columbia’s campus is currently only open to CUID holders, a policy that has been in place since Monday.
The protestors were at the “Flood Columbia for Gaza” rally, organized by Within Our Lifetime, which was scheduled to begin at 9 PM on Amsterdam Avenue at 116th Street. Around 11 PM, one protestor entered campus through a gap between the gates and Hamilton Hall, according to a video from Eliana Goldin (GS/JTS ’25). Goldin says she witnessed about five protestors enter through the gap, including the person her video captured incidentally.
MP, a Barnard first-year who asked only to be identified by her initials, said she witnessed “another three or four people” gain unauthorized access before she left the scene, excluding the person captured in the video. A Columbia College junior who wished to remain anonymous also said they witnessed four to five individuals enter through the gap.
At the time, the only authorized entrances to the campus were through the Amsterdam Avenue gate, where a CUID scanner was set up about 50 feet from the gap, and the Wien Courtyard gate. At both entrances, Columbia Public Safety officers were inspecting and scanning CUIDs.
At 1:38 AM on Sunday, Sundial witnessed an individual enter campus through a different gap in the Amsterdam gate, even though Public Safety had stuck a metal barrier in the gap by Hamilton’s facade.
When confronted by a Sundial reporter, the individual claimed that he entered through the CUID access point. He walked down College Walk and entered the Gaza Solidarity Encampment on the West Lawn. The individual said that this was his second night at the encampment.1
When asked for comment, Columbia Public Safety directed us to the Office of Public Affairs, which did not respond to a request for comment.
CUID-only access is instituted in advance of demonstrations because “community members outside of Columbia may come to our campus without necessarily sharing our values to maintain safety, free expression, and a sense of community,” according to near-identical messages David Greenberg, Executive Vice President of University Facilities and Operations, sends to the Columbia community every time campus gates close.
At Wednesday’s congressional hearing on antisemitism at Columbia, Columbia Board of Trustees Co-Chairs Claire Shipman and David Greenwald said in their opening statements, “Columbia began restricting access to campus to only Columbia ID holders during major events.”
A Public Safety officer guarding the CUID entrance at 1:30 AM was unaware that individuals gained unauthorized access through the gate earlier that night. He stated that the part of the gate by the gap was the responsibility of “the other guy that was working on the other end.” At that time, no officer was guarding the other end of the gate.
At 1:45 AM, Sundial notified Columbia Public Safety of the individual we observed gaining unauthorized access. However, as of 2:30 AM Public Safety's presence was still limited to the CUID entrance.
The metal barrier was placed in the gap next to Hamilton by 11:47 PM, which was when Sundial first observed the scene. Multiple Public Safety officers were stationed near the gap and were directing individuals walking towards the gate, including Sundial reporters, away from the corner. Officers also began prohibiting entry into the southern portion of College Walk leading up to the gate.
Shortly after, Public Safety erected barriers on the path near the Undergraduate Admissions entrance to Hamilton Hall and at the east end of College Walk, blocking access to the southern portion of the path.
However, by 1:36 AM the gap remained plugged with the barrier but was unattended by Public Safety. It was around this time that Sundial witnessed the individual who gained unauthorized access.
Goldin said she was confronted by pro-Palestinian protestors around 11:30 PM near the Sundial after witnessing the individuals enter campus through the gap. She said she suspected they were associated with the protestors she witnessed sneaking in.
“They seemed to be an organized group of students from off campus. There was something really off about the situation that felt really, really wrong,” she said. “There was what seemed to be a gang of non-affiliates, fully covered by keffiyehs…getting really close up in our faces, saying things like ‘Go back to Poland’... ‘Yeah Hamas, yeah habib, strike strike Tel Aviv.’”
“We told Public Safety, but the guy barely reacted. So we went up to other officers, and they started to take care of it,” Goldin said.
Other non-affiliates have been seen on the Morningside campus this week, including at the Gaza Solidarity Encampment. Nerdeen Kiswani, co-founder of Within Our Lifetime, gave a speech to students at the encampment on Saturday night after reportedly getting married.
Kiswani was a speaker who appeared on campus at the March 24 “Resistance 101” event that resulted in numerous student suspensions. Columbia Chief Operating Officer Cas Holloway released a statement following the event on March 28 which stated, “We have banned the outside speakers from campus.”
Shellyne Rodriguez, a professor who was fired from the Cooper Union in January after making anti-Israel comments, was reportedly inside Columbia’s gates on Friday, according to the New York Post.
This story will be updated as new information arises.
Jonas Du is the editor-in-chief of Sundial. Jack Armstrong is a staff writer for Sundial.
Sundial asked the individual how he got past the barriers blocking the southern portion of College Walk, where he was photographed, from the CUID-only entrance. The individual was unaware such a barrier existed despite claiming to have walked through the CUID access point.