House Democrats tell Columbia University admin, 'time for negotiation is over'

House Democrats urge Columbia Board of Trustees to disband anti-Israel encampment violating Title VI and segregating Jewish students off campus or resign.

Later Monday, the university gave agitators until 2 p.m. to clear the encampment or be suspended. Danielle Wallace is a reporter for Fox News Digital covering politics, crime, police and more. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and on Twitter: @danimwallace. 

As a result of the disruption on campus, supported by some faculty members, "many students have been prevented from safely attending class, the main library, and from leaving their dorm rooms in an apparent violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act," they wrote. The 21 signatories acknowledged how the Columbia administration earlier had "tacitly acknowledged that the encampment had created an impermissibly hostile and unsafe environment for Jewish students by resorting to hybrid learning, appearing to violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act." 

"In other words, instead of solving the root cause of discrimination and harassment that students faced on campus, the administration decided to segregate some students from campus altogether, which naturally created an unsafe environment on campus for all students," the House Democrats wrote.While saying they appreciate the Columbia administration’s efforts "to negotiate in good faith to reach an agreement that allows those in the encampment to voluntarily disburse without police intervention," the House Democrats wrote that, after nearly a week of negotiations, "it is now abundantly clear that the students and activists entrenched on campus are unwilling to enter into a reasonable agreement to disband, which is necessary to bring the University into compliance with Title VI."