Columbia University suspends student groups Students for Justice in Palestine & Jewish Voice for Peace for allegedly violating school policies
NEW YORK -- Columbia University has suspended two student groups for the rest of the fall semester.
The school says it's because Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace repeatedly violated school policies.
Officials cited an event Thursday afternoon involving "threatening rhetoric and intimidation."
The Chair of the Special Committee on Campus Safety released the following statement:
"Columbia University is suspending Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) as official student groups through the end of the fall term. This decision was made after the two groups repeatedly violated University policies related to holding campus events, culminating in an unauthorized event Thursday afternoon that proceeded despite warnings and included threatening rhetoric and intimidation.
"Suspension means the two groups will not be eligible to hold events on campus or receive University funding. Lifting the suspension will be contingent on the two groups demonstrating a commitment to compliance with University policies and engaging in consultations at a group leadership level with University officials.
"Like all student groups, SJP and JVP are required to abide by University policies and procedures. This ensures both the safety of our community and that core University activities can be conducted without disruption. During this especially charged time on our campus, we are strongly committed to giving space to student groups to participate in debate, advocacy, and protest. This relies on community members abiding by the rules and cooperating with University administrators who have a duty to ensure the safety of everyone in our community."
CBS New York got reaction from some students on campus.
"I feel like the university should definitely be a place to pro-free speech," student Tiffany Le said.
"That just sounds like they want to stifle a certain crowd of voices to me. I don't know why they wouldn't want to work together with the student groups instead of just suspending them," student Kelsey Harrison said.
We reached out to those two student groups. We have yet to hear back.