Dozens of Columbia students were arrested for protesting last school year. Most are returning this fall

The majority of Columbia students arrested during protests over Israel’s war in Gaza will be returning to school this fall.

The majority of Columbia students arrested during protests over Israel’s war in Gaza will be returning to school this fall. Dozens of students arrested and placed on interim suspension in the spring will return to campus and enroll in classes while awaiting disciplinary hearings. That’s according to a report released Monday by a Congressional committee investigating the school’s response to antisemitism. Among the returning students include many who were arrested during protests in late April, when the university first ask law enforcement to break up university encampments, and those who later barricaded themselves inside Hamilton Hall, one of the campus buildings also occupied during the 1968 student protests. Of the 40 students first arrested by the New York City Police Department on April 18, the report says, only two remain suspended. The rest are currently in good standing pending a hearing, though 17 remain on “disciplinary probation.” Charges against these students were eventually dropped. Twenty-two students were arrested for occupying Hamilton Hall on April 30. Four of those remain not in good standing, with 3 under interim suspension and 1 on disciplinary probation from a prior hearing. The report follows a request for information on the student cases by the House Education and Workforce Committee  – part of a larger effort by House Republicans to combat antisemitism on college campuses and Ivy League institutions.