In response, Columbia University has fully locked down campus. We can’t get in to offices, students can’t get in to take exams. It’s clear that Columbia’s own measures are doing the most to disrupt student life right now.

NEW PIECE: I'm in FT Alphaville today assessing whether the FTC's new Non-Compete ban will run up against the Fed's desire for wage growth to fall &, more generally, whether pro-worker non-financial regulation will be seen as a price stability threat
ft.com/content/6afe46…

so proud of UMass Amherst students who are peacefully protesting as of today

just took a video of them being threatened by the admin to remove tents immediately (don't want to post b/c I got students on it)

Today, Darryl Li (darryl li) examines how the United States facilitates the global flow of 155mm artillery shells, and the role that these weapons have played in the destruction of Gaza.

lpeproject.org/blog/imperiali…

Read journalists who are actually taking the time to see the Gaza solidarity encampments firsthand:

one of the greatest lessons i’ve learned in organizing is to not blame people for being surprised when they find out how bad the world is, even when it hits them late in life. not people who feign ignorance, but people who are truly surprised

Amid today's news, it may be hard to make space for this report that Ira Regmi & I have written on the civil rights struggle to eradicate involuntary unemployment. But there is an important connection between free speech, robust protest, & protection from economic immiseration🧵

Leaked USAID memo: “deterioration of food security and nutrition in Gaza is unprecedented in modern history, exponentially outpacing in six months the long-term declines that led to the only other two famine declarations in the 21st century”

Just damning
devex.com/news/exclusive…

'The economic organization of smaller units within society — including universities —profoundly impacts the broader collective experience of democracy.'

A Call for Institutional Fairness on Palestine lpeproject.org/blog/a-call-fo…

Email from Stanford University preemptively threatening its students with disciplining and arrest.

There is currently no encampment and the university is already mass emailing threats.

april 24, 7:55 pm pst

By the way: How did Gavin McInnes get on campus today? Theoretically, campus is restricted to Columbia ID holders and uni-vetted members of the press. Isn't the Proud Boys founder exactly the kind of outside agitator campus restrictions are meant for?

Jewish students Columbia University: “If we didn’t do everything in our power to end the genocidal violence Israel is unleashing upon Gaza, we would not have fulfilled the requirements of the Passover Seder.”

Watch/share this CNN report on Passover at the Gaza solidarity encampment.

Like something out a movie.

University Presidents are picking a side that doesn’t want them

The arrival of a Proud Boys founder at Columbia makes the situation very clear—right wing extremists are capitalizing on peaceful student protest to serve their own political goals. McInnes has a known history of antisemitism.

This isn’t about keeping students safe at all.

USC as a visiting professor, I am disappointed in your decision to close your campus gates, which I’m told you have now surrounded with LAPD presence. This is a very unsafe situation for my students, and I strongly urge you to de-escalate and remove LAPD immediately.

Over 1,000 Barnard alums pledge to withhold donations, demand suspended students be reinstated.

“Rendering students homeless because of their anti-war and anti-genocide protests belies Barnard’s commitment to student safety and well being.” columbiaspectator.com/news/2024/04/2…

Roughly 50 state troopers in riot gear have arrived, seven of which are on horseback.

Key point.

Columbia isn’t allowing proper access to reporters — some limited workarounds — and all sorts of nonsense, including confusing inside and outside of the university, is circulating.

A student protest is going national on the basis of very distorted impressions.

Tom Cotton talking about “nascent pogroms” on the upper west side, while actual mass Palestinian graves are uncovered under hospitals in Gaza and Israel invades Rafah. The upside down, gaslit world that we inhabit.