After demanding humanitarian aid, pro-Palestine protesters at Columbia University in New York, USA, are demanding the cancellation of exams since they are “irrevocably shaken” due to the police action against their protest encampments.
Law students at Columbia University demanded that the authorities not hold examinations, and instead give them all passing scores. They claimed that many of them were unable to study or concentrate since their peers have been arrested.
In a letter, the student editors of Columbia Law Review asked the Columbia Law School administration for the same. “Many are unwell at this time and cannot study or concentrate while their peers are being hauled to jail,” the letter said.
“Our response is not disproportionate to the outsized impact it has had on many of us in the community – a crowd of people that proudly represent their membership in a white supremacist, neo-fascist hate group were storming our campus days ago,” the letter adds.
The letter talked about the substantial impact of the police onslaught on the student community, particularly the eviction of demonstrators from Hamilton Hall, which had been illegally occupied by them to express solidarity with the ‘Palestinian cause’.
Notably, on the 2nd of May, Columbia Law School resumed final examinations after suspending all tests earlier due to pro-Palestinian protests and the following campus shutdown. The final examinations at the school are ongoing remotely rather than in-person.
The letter stated that the school’s current exam policy raises concerns about “equity and academic integrity”.
“We believe that canceling exams would be a proportionate response to the level of distress our peers have been feeling”, the letter reads.
The letter came after the New York Police Department swung into action and arrested over a hundred pro-Intifada protesters at Columbia University and City College of New York. Reports say that the maximum arrests were made from Columbia University which has also been the epicenter of pro-Palestine protests spread across several US varsities. The building has been cleared now and has declared pro-Palestine encampments as “illegal”.
The demand for exam cancellations at Columbia Law School follows similar moves made by other schools dealing with the aftermath of the pro-Palestinian protests. Notably, the University of California and Berkeley School of Law have not changed their final exam schedules from earlier this week.