On Tuesday around noon, dozens of members of a coalition of Jewish student groups gathered on the northern steps of the Columbia University campus to protest the unlawful detention of Mahmoud Khalil by federal agents, and the university's complicity and lackluster response.
The campus, which has been closed to the public since last year's student encampment, has been dotted with fences since Khalil's arrest on Saturday. The student activists were separated from 100 or so onlookers by a long fence, patrolled by campus security. Compared to protests in the fall, this one was subdued.
Students milling around the protest expressed a range of emotions, from anger to despair to apathy. Most declined to share their full names with Hell Gate, citing fear of repercussions.
One graduate student, sitting on the steps overlooking the protesters, commented on her shifting perceptions of the school. "I remember wanting to come to campus because I thought it was a place of free speech and a place where I could bring my friends and family and feel safe, and feel like my peers are safe and protected by the institution. But I don't feel that way anymore."
"I'm embarrassed," she said. "I won't wear any Columbia gear. I feel ashamed."