The Columbia Protests are Spreading to Other College Campuses

The fallout from last week’s heated Congressional hearing and subsequent arrests at Columbia University continued to reverberate at several colleges and universities on Monday, as students erected tents and staged their own rallies and sit-ins.

The demonstrations appeared largely focused on a few campuses in the Northeast, although at least some protests had spread to other parts of the country.

At least 47 people were arrested during pro-Palestinian protests at Yale University in Connecticut, and a large crowd of students was occupying an intersection near campus on Monday afternoon.

At Emerson College in Massachusetts, students set up tents in an alley near Boston Common. In nearby Cambridge, a banner at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology declared part of campus a “LIBERATED ZONE.” And in New York City, protests were underway at New York University and the New School, in addition to Columbia, where classes were held remotely but hundreds of students and faculty members continued to demonstrate.

Dozens of pro-Palestinian students were camped out on Monday at the University of Michigan, while a smaller number held Israeli flags nearby. And about 100 students at the University of Maryland held a sit-in near the administration building, according to a student organizer.

Harvard University, which was the site of flaring tensions in the fall that culminated with the congressional testimony and resignation of its president, Claudine Gay, sought to head off unrest by closing down Harvard Yard to the public.

Students had to show identification to security guards to enter the main campus area on Monday. A sign warned that blocking pathways and erecting tents would not be allowed without permission, with violators subject to disciplinary action, according to the Harvard Crimson, the school newspaper.

Vimal Patel, Brillian Bao and Matthew Eadie contributed reporting.