On Tuesday, protesters at Columbia occupied Hamilton Hall (not a random choice: Protesters took over the same building during Vietnam War protests in 1968). At UCLA, where more than 200 people have been arrested, demonstrators blocked Jewish students from walking through campus. Pro-Israeli counterprotesters tried to dismantle the UCLA encampment Tuesday, clashing with protesters and shooting off fireworks.
There’s a lot to unpack about these protests above and beyond the conflict between Israel and Hamas that prompted them. Let’s start with what they say about the state of academia, particularly at elite schools like Columbia. In his Wednesday G-File (🔒), Jonah wrote about Johannah King-Slutzky, a Columbia graduate student who served as a spokeswoman for the protesters who occupied Hamilton Hall. She went viral for a press conference in…
