Columbia University Continues Campus Lockdown Years After Protests, Frustrating Students

Columbia University remains under a lockdown that began nearly three years ago in response to anti-Israel protests, with campus gates still closed to the public. This prolonged security measure, initially implemented to quell demonstrations and prevent outside interference, is now drawing criticism from students who feel the campus environment has changed and the restrictions are no longer justified.

For current seniors, the only undergraduates who remember a time before the campus was significantly altered by protests, the memory of an open campus lasted only a month. The campus was first restricted in October 2023, requiring students to use their IDs for access as a response to the Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent protests. This measure became permanent with the appearance of an encampment on campus in spring 2024.

Despite a significant decrease in protest activity, the gates remain closed. Incidents in May 2025 included students chaining themselves to gates and a library takeover resulting in 78 arrests. By April of the current year, a pro-Palestine protest outside Hamilton Hall reportedly drew around 20 individuals.

Jennifer L. Mnookin, the university's president, established a committee in September to determine when and how to reopen the campus in Morningside Heights. A university spokesperson indicated that President Mnookin anticipates recommendations from the committee by the end of the current semester. However, students like Aum Desai, a junior studying political science, express frustration with the administrative process.

"When you have an open campus, it’s easier to bring speakers onto campus," Desai told The Post. "You see more people from the New York City area, like the people that you’re neighbors with as a Columbia student."

The university's decision to maintain strict access controls has also had financial implications. The Trump administration reportedly cut $400 million in federal funding in 2025, citing the unruliness of pro-Palestine protesters as a contributing factor.

Nicholas Baum, a 21-year-old senior studying economics and a Jewish student, stated that while he felt unsafe on campus during the height of the protests, he now believes the administration's continued reliance on gate closures is misguided. He recounted feeling scared to leave his dorm or walk on nearby streets during the protests.

"But it’s very awkward and weird to see Columbia still doubling down as hard as they can on maintaining the gate closures," Baum said. He further expressed concern that the continued lockdown, if justified by the administration as a measure to protect Jewish students, could inadvertently place a larger target on their backs. "I'd really be bothered if Columbia went out and said this was for the sake of protecting Jewish students, because the only thing that does is just put a greater target on Jewish students’ backs, where other students now look at me and think, I’m the reason why the campus gates are closed,” he warned.