Nearly 30 students walked out of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s class at Columbia University Wednesday in protest of the school’s response to pro-Palestinian protests, according to The New York Times.
Students at Columbia University held pro-Palestinian rallies following the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel, and over 300 faculty members signed a letter condemning antisemitic incidents on campus. Students walked out of Clinton’s class to demand “immediate legal support for affected students” and “a commitment to student safety, well being and privacy” for students who participated in protests after a “doxxing” truck with their names circled campus, according to the Times.
The students protesting thought that the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) Dean Keren Yarhi-Milo and Clinton would walk past them after class, but they never did, and the students later found out they had left through a side door, according to the Times.
Clinton joined Columbia in February as a professor at SIPA and a Presidential Fellow at Columbia Worlds Project. She teaches an “Inside the Situation Room” class with Yarhi-Milo that gives students a look into how international relations decisions are made using case studies.
Clinton took a strong pro-Israel stance after the conflict in Israel erupted, denouncing those calling for a ceasefire during a moderated discussion with former U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker III, according to CBS News.
“People who are calling for a ceasefire now do not understand Hamas. That is not possible,” Clinton said, according to CBS News.
Multiple pro-Palestinian student groups at other elite universities put out statements blaming Israel for the terrorist attacks, including at Harvard University and Yale University. Harvard, Columbia and the University of Pennsylvaniacreated taskforces recently to address the rise of antisemitism on their campuses following the terrorist attacks.
Columbia and SIPA did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
Brandon Poulter on November 2, 2023