Sharon Otterman

New York

Reporter at The New York Times

New York Times metro reporter covering higher education and health. [email protected]

Featured in: Favicon

nytimes.com Favicon

msn.com

globo.com

estadao.com.br Favicon

independent.co.uk Favicon

yahoo.com (+3) Favicon

smh.com.au Favicon

boston.com Favicon

chicagotribune.com Favicon

indianexpress.com + 101 more

Articles

A Year Ago, Columbia Security Was Hands-Off at a Protest. Not This Time.

5 days ago | ourcommunitynow.com | Sharon Otterman

Share A year ago, when masked pro-Palestinian demonstrators occupied Hamilton Hall at Columbia University, the sole public safety officer who was present left the scene after notifying her supervisor.
Police nab Columbia protesters amid pro-Palestinian unrest and funding tensions

5 days ago | telegraphindia.com | Sharon Otterman

Protesters, wearing masks and kaffiyehs, had burst through a security gate shortly after 3 pm and hung banners Sharon Otterman Published 09.05.25, 10:20 AM Public safety officers try to prevent pro-Palestinian protesters from getting inside the Butler Library in Columbia University, New York, on Wednesday Reuters Dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators were taken into police custody on Wednesday evening after occupying part of the main library on Columbia University’s campus in an attempt to...
A Year Ago, Columbia Security Was Hands-Off at a Protest. Not This Time.

6 days ago | nytimes.com | Sharon Otterman

When demonstrators occupied the university's main library on Wednesday, campus security forces intervened aggressively. The occupation ended with arrests hours later. A year ago, when masked pro-Palestinian demonstrators occupied Hamilton Hall at Columbia University, the sole public safety officer who was present left the scene after notifying her supervisor. On Wednesday, demonstrators who swarmed into the main library on campus were met with a far different response.
Police remove pro-Palestinian demonstrators occupying Columbia library

6 days ago | seattletimes.com | Sharon Otterman

NEW YORK — Dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators were taken into police custody Wednesday evening after occupying part of the main library on Columbia University’s campus in an attempt to rekindle the protest movement that swept the campus last spring.
Pro-Palestinian Demonstrators Occupy Columbia University's Main Library

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Sharon Otterman

Dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators flooded into the main library on Columbia University's campus on Wednesday afternoon and occupied part of the building, in an attempt to rekindle the protest movement that swept campus last spring. The protesters, wearing masks and kaffiyehs, hung banners in the soaring main room of Butler Library's second floor, renaming the space "the Basel Al-Araj Popular University," according to the demonstrators and witnesses at the library.
Could Columbia Change Who Gets to Set the Rules on Protests?

1 week ago | ourcommunitynow.com | Sharon Otterman

Share In the spring of 2024, pro-Palestinian demonstrators at Columbia University found a formidable ally in the university senate, a body that was given authority over campus protest policy in the aftermath of violent police interventions decades earlier.Now, the powerful senate finds itself under a microscope.
Columbia Lays Off Nearly 180 People Because of Trump Research Cuts

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Sharon Otterman

Columbia University announced Tuesday that nearly 180 people whose salaries had been funded by federal research grants would be laid off, as the effect of the Trump administration's cuts on the campus deepens. Citing intense strain on Columbia's finances and research mission, Claire Shipman, the university's acting president, said in the announcement that Columbia would also be "running lighter footprints of research infrastructure" in some areas affected by the cuts.
Could Columbia Change Who Gets to Set the Rules on Protests?

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Sharon Otterman

Administrators and trustees have ordered a review of the faculty-led university senate, which could redefine control of student demonstrations. In the spring of 2024, pro-Palestinian demonstrators at Columbia University found a formidable ally in the university senate, a body that was given authority over campus protest policy in the aftermath of violent police interventions decades earlier. Now, the powerful senate finds itself under a microscope.
U.S. Texts Barnard Employees and Asks if They Are Jewish

3 weeks ago | ourcommunitynow.com | Sharon Otterman

Share The personal cellphones of dozens of current and former Barnard College employees pinged Monday evening with a text message that looked, at first, like a scam.The text said it was from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, part of a review of the employment practices of Barnard.
U.S. Texts Barnard Employees and Asks if They Are Jewish

3 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Sharon Otterman

A questionnaire from a federal commission also inquired about whether professors and other college staff members had been harassed. The personal cellphones of dozens of current and former Barnard College employees pinged Monday evening with a text message that looked, at first, like a scam. The text said it was from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, part of a review of the employment practices of Barnard.