Sharon Otterman

2 weeks ago | straitstimes.com | Sharon Otterman

WASHINGTON - Four days after stepping down as Columbia University’s interim president, Dr Katrina Armstrong testified in a contentious closed-door deposition in Washington that she did not remember specifics from Columbia’s own report on anti-semitism and had trouble describing how she had responded to its recommendations. “It has been a very, very, very challenging year,” she said, according to a transcript that was posted online and confirmed as authentic by a government official.

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Sharon Otterman

Four days after stepping down as Columbia University's interim president, Dr. Katrina Armstrong testified in a contentious closed-door deposition in Washington that she didn't remember specifics from Columbia's own report on antisemitism and had trouble describing how she had responded to its recommendations. "It has been a very, very, very challenging year," she said, according to a transcript that was posted online and confirmed as authentic by a government official.

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Sharon Otterman |Troy Closson

Some faculty members now support introducing an unarmed campus force that can better enforce rules in the hopes that it will obviate the need to call in the police. "A lot of things would go a lot more smoothly if in fact we could physically control our campus space in the event of disruptions," said James Applegate, a professor of astronomy on the executive board of the university's senate, a policymaking body.

3 weeks ago | straitstimes.com | Sharon Otterman |Stephanie Saul

NEW YORK – Columbia University’s move to use police force to clear demonstrators from a campus building last spring could potentially have been avoided, as some students were urgently asking if they could leave voluntarily, according to a report released on April 1 by the university’s senate. The students, who early that morning had broken into Hamilton Hall and barricaded the doors, told faculty intermediaries that they had enlisted the help of a Harlem pastor to help them depart safely.

3 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Sharon Otterman |Stephanie Saul

A university spokeswoman said that officials had not seen the report before its release Tuesday evening and were reviewing it. Columbia leaders have repeatedly defended their decisions regarding the protests over the past year and a half, including their decision to ask the New York Police Department to remove demonstrators from campus on the night of the takeover. During the ensuing arrests, a police officer accidentally discharged his gun, though no one was hurt.