After the New York Police Department arrested over 100 students on the east side of South Lawn on Thursday afternoon, students migrated to the west side of South Lawn within the day to continue the encampment in solidarity. During a Thursday evening press conference, Chief John Chell said that “the students that were arrested were peaceful, offered no resistance whatsoever, and were saying what they wanted to say in a peaceful manner.”

The Engineering Student Council rejected on Monday a petition to issue a referendum on University divestment from Israel in its spring 2024 election ballot. The decision comes after Columbia College Student Council and Barnard’s Student Government Association passed similar petitions on March 3 and March 4, respectively.

The Columbia University Democrats and the Columbia University Republicans hosted a debate on Tuesday at Roone Arledge Cinema in Lerner Hall. Over 250 students watched club members deliver speeches and cross-examine each other on issues ranging from free speech to student loan debt.

The Barnard Speaking Center held a TEDxBarnard event at the Diana Center on Thursday, which featured nine Barnard student speakers and drew a crowd of over 100 students. The presentations’ theme was “Say What You Mean: A Call to Action for the Barnard Community” and featured topics ranging from abortion stigma to environmental racism.

The Columbia College Student Council and Engineering Student Council voted on Jan. 28 and Feb. 5 respectively to increase their student body’s student life fee from $268 to $278 for the 2024-25 academic year. The $10 increase followed over a week of debate among and between the two councils.

In September 2023, the phrase “Low Steps” was almost interchangeable with “Low Beach,” a catchall term signifying the place where Columbia students sat in between classes, caught up with friends, and basked in the autumn sun.

Nearly two dozen students say they were sprayed with a hazardous, foul-smelling chemical while attending a pro-Palestinian “divestment now” rally on Low Steps on Friday, Spectator reported Monday morning.