bucknell college campus tour

Bucknell tries a new approach to the campus visit: A customized virtual reality experience

Users feel as if they are walking through the iron gates outside the campus’ Memorial Stadium. They can stand mid-court at a basketball game or walk into a dorm room, classroom, or library.

Even before the pandemic, Bucknell University had been looking for a way to show students what its central Pennsylvania campus is like, without their having to visit.

The pandemic made the quest more urgent, as many schools were forced to shut down on-campus tours or restrict access to buildings. In a pilot program this spring, Bucknell, with the help of a Chicago-based digital agency, loaded its new virtual reality experience onto Oculus headsets.

Users feel as if they are walking through the iron gates outside the campus’ Memorial Stadium, a momentous pass-through, considering it’s where Bucknell students walk as freshmen during convocation and again as seniors during commencement. Once inside, users can stand midcourt at a basketball game as players warm up around them, step inside a dorm room where students on a bunk bed converse, enter classrooms, the performing arts center, and the library, and even appear to stroll on Main Street Lewisburg, home to Bucknell.

» READ MORE: With testing requirements relaxed, applications soar at selective colleges

“While we certainly hope this project carries us forward well beyond the pandemic, there seemed like no better time to think about creative ways to introduce campus life to students,” said Lisa Keegan, vice president for enrollment management.

While many schools have created online virtual tours, Bucknell appears to be among the first to offer such a customized experience in virtual reality that allows viewers to walk around campus spaces without leaving their living rooms.

“I don’t know of any other college that has this kind of immersive Oculus-based virtual experience,” said David Hawkins, chief education and policy officer for the National Association of College Admission Counseling. ”They may be pioneers in that regard.”

It could catch on, depending upon how widely available the technology becomes, he said.

» READ MORE: As colleges compete for fewer students, the pressure rises to meet enrollment targets

After COVID-19 hit, colleges around the country scrambled to create virtual tours and other experiences for prospective students. Some even did it before the pandemic. The University of Pennsylvania in February 2020 unveiled its virtual online tour , which users can view on Penn’s website, or by using YouVisit, a company that helps colleges create immersive virtual experiences.

Princeton also has a virtual tour, using technology developed by a student-led start-up company.

Bucknell pursued its project as a result of a donor gift from 1993 alumnus Marc Lore, formerly the president and CEO of Walmart U.S. e-Commerce.

“I’ll never forget stepping foot on the Bucknell University campus for the first time — the big trees, brick buildings, and surrounding town of Lewisburg — there was something so peaceful about it,” Lore said in a LinkedIn post. “What if you could capture all that makes #Bucknell special, bring it to life with #VR, and make it available to anyone, anywhere?”

The virtual tour leads viewers to a B-shaped courtyard that actually doesn’t exist. From there, viewers choose each campus space they want to enter by clicking on an orb. The virtual experiences were created using 360-degree videos and photos; when the pandemic ends, more material will be filmed and added, Keegan said.

The university has 17 headsets. It offers some to visitors in its admissions center and has begun mailing some to prospective students who haven’t been able to get to campus or weren’t able to get inside some spaces. Students then are expected to mail the sets back in enclosed packaging.

“All my friends came over. They loved it,” said Siena Abercrombie, a high school senior from Pittsburgh who received an Oculus set.

Abercrombie, 18, active in theater and dance and in the top 20% of her senior class, visited Bucknell in April but couldn’t see inside a dorm room or classrooms because of pandemic restrictions. The Oculus set arrived in the mail a couple of weeks later, giving her that glimpse. She plans to attend Bucknell in the fall.

Bucknell hopes to offer full on-campus tours this summer as the pandemic ebbs, but even post-pandemic, the university sees uses for the technology, Keegan said. Admissions officers who recruit internationally will be able to take headsets with them, and students who lack financial resources or otherwise can’t get to campus could receive a set in the mail, Keegan said.

Bucknell also foresees using the technology to get younger students, already excited about gaming, interested in college, she said. Bucknell’s virtual experience also is available via a web browser.

Admissions officials at other schools have heard about Bucknell’s Oculus tour.

“It’s really cool,” said Jess Lord, vice president and dean of admission and financial aid at Haverford College. “It’s like the deluxe version of what we’re all doing.”

The difficulty could be cost, he said. Oculus headsets cost a few hundred dollars and there’s the cost of developing the experience. Bucknell wouldn’t release the size of Lore’s gift or the cost.

“The reality is that the technology is not cheap — and frankly, I question whether there is a good return on investment,” said Shawn L. Abbott, Temple University’s vice provost for admissions, financial aid, and enrollment management. “… There comes a point where nothing can quite replace the experience of actually visiting a college campus.”

He said 67% of admitted students who visited Temple between March 15 and May 1 enrolled.

Another drawback, Hawkins of the national admission group said, is that a virtual experience offers what a college wants applicants to see. An actual tour reveals “warts and all,” he said.

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Michael C. Pascucci '58 Team Center Opens at Bucknell University

April 19, 2024

The Michael C. Pascucci '58 Team Center will serve multiple Bison programs, including football, men's lacrosse, and men's and women's track & field. Photo by James T. Giffen, Marketing & Communications

The final phase and keystone of the Pascucci Family Athletics Complex is now complete: The Michael C. Pascucci '58 Team Center, which officially opened its doors April 15, offers premier facilities tailored for Bucknell's Division 1 student-athletes. Standing prominently between the turf practice field and the north end zone of Christy Mathewson–Memorial Stadium, the new facility provides training and team space for varsity student-athletes.

Enhancements in and around Christy Mathewson–Memorial Stadium were made possible through the generous support of Michael Pascucci '58, P'81, P'87, G'21, G'22. Pascucci's $40 million pledge in 2021 stands as the largest one-time commitment in the University's history, supporting student-athletes as well as advancing the University's goals for financial aid. Of his commitment, $10 million is dedicated to fostering the development of student-athletes with the transformative renovation of athletics facilities.

In 2021, Michael Pascucci '58, P'81, P'87, G'21, G'22 and his wife Jocelyn P'81, P'87, G'21, G'22 made the largest one-time commitment to Bucknell in the University's history. Of their $40 million pledge, $10 million supported the development of the Pascucci Family Athletics Complex, including the Michael C. Pascucci '58 Team Center. Photo by Douglas Kilpatrick

Earlier phases of the project included the installation of a modern LED video board at the south end zone of Christy Mathewson–Memorial Stadium in 2021 and the completion of a turf practice field in summer 2022. These additions have reshaped the landscape east of Pascucci Way — which has been renamed in recognition of the family's exceptional generosity — establishing an impressive athletics presence at the campus entrance. Supplemental support for the athletics complex ensured the project was 100% donor funded, including an endowment to offset operations.

"The initial phases of the Pascucci Family Athletics Complex have already had a significant positive impact on student-athlete performance and the game-day atmosphere at Christy Mathewson–Memorial Stadium," says Jermaine Truax, vice president of athletics & recreation. "We are incredibly excited about the completion of the Pascucci Team Center, a modern training facility that will even further enhance the student-athlete experience for multiple Bison programs. We are profoundly grateful for the support of Michael Pascucci and all of the donors who helped make this beautiful team center a reality."

The Christy Mathewson Gates flank the north sideline of the turf practice field. Completed in August 2022, the practice field offers additional training space for multiple Bison athletics teams, as well as intramural and club sports. Photo by Emily Paine, Marketing & Communications

Pascucci's landmark pledge has also significantly impacted the University's access initiatives. The remaining $30 million supports unrestricted, need-based financial aid through the Pascucci Family Scholarship, bolstering the University's No. 1 fundraising priority.

"Michael's extraordinary investment in need-based financial aid ensures that the Pascucci legacy will extend far beyond the athletics complex that bears his name," says Bucknell University President John Bravman. "By allowing us to consistently admit the best and brightest students each year, it will change the lives of generations of talented students with financial need. We are deeply grateful for the Pascucci family's dedication to the University and their transformational support of both academics and athletics."

The Michael C. Pascucci '58 Team Center

The Pascucci Team Center sits between the practice turf and Christy Mathewson–Memorial Stadium, offering convenience for student-athletes to train in close proximity to their game-day field. Photo by James T. Giffen, Marketing & Communications

Students enter the Pascucci Team Center into a comfortable lounge space which invites them to relax, study or socialize before and after practice. Photo by James T. Giffen, Marketing & Communications

With a new, dedicated locker room space, the Bucknell men's lacrosse team will call the Pascucci Team Center home. Photo by James T. Giffen, Marketing & Communications

The men's lacrosse locker room accommodates 50 players and was supported by men's lacrosse alumni. Photo by James T. Giffen, Marketing & Communications

The team meeting room offers an exceptional view of the field at Christy Mathewson–Memorial Stadium, and will serve as a meeting space for athletics teams to view game film and conduct off-field training. The spacious room has the option to be divided by sound-proof panels, which will allow two teams to use the room simultaneously. Photo by James T. Giffen, Marketing & Communications

The weight room in the Pascucci Team Center features 12 fully-customized and adjustable double-sided weight racks, eight HyperGlute machines and high-performance flooring. Photo by James T. Giffen, Marketing & Communications

Each weight rack has two separate weight stacks, bars, weight trees, belt squat attachments and resistance bands. Photo by James T. Giffen, Marketing & Communications

The frame of each weight rack also includes a multi-grip chin-up station, which will further enhance student athlete training. Photo by James T. Giffen, Marketing & Communications

Adjustable weight dumbbells at each rack and a custom storage unit with a custom bridge, monkey bars and medicine ball storage will add to the Bison training regimen. Photo by James T. Giffen, Marketing & Communications

Six custom plyo box sets will help student-athletes further develop their agility, strength and endurance. Photo by James T. Giffen, Markeing & Communications

In the sports medicine center, student-athletes will find support to optimize their performance, minimize their risk of injury and rehab after injury. Photo by James T. Giffen, Marketing & Communications

The Michael C. Pascucci '58 Team Center is a 16,000-square-foot athletics hub. It features a state-of-the-art strength and conditioning facility with an expansive weight room that overlooks the turf practice field. Adjacent to the weight room is a sports medicine center that provides student-athletes with preventative and rehabilitation treatments, including taping, stretching, hydrotherapy and injury evaluations.

Specifically designed to bridge the practice and game-day fields, the team center's south facade offers sweeping views of Christy Mathewson–Memorial Stadium. Inside, a spacious team meeting room and conference room will allow teams to review film and gather for off-field training and learning events. A student-athlete landing spot provides a comfortable place for students awaiting the start of practice and other activities, and a Bison Fuel station ensures convenient access to nutritious snacks, supplements and hydration. 

The Bucknell men's lacrosse team will have a dedicated locker room space in the center, providing convenient access for both practice and games. In addition, the Bison football team and the men's and women's track & field teams will use the training, recovery and team spaces.

While the Pascucci Team Center is exclusively available to varsity athletes, its opening will serve the entire athletics department as well as the greater Bucknell community by reducing varsity team use of strength training and locker room spaces in the Kenneth Langone Athletics & Recreation Center. In addition, the team meeting spaces in the Pascucci Team Center will be used for leadership and enrichment programming conducted by the athletics department.

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Visit us virtually or in-person and see if Lehigh’s beautiful campus and thriving community is the place for you to call home—for the next four years and beyond.

Opportunities to Visit

We offer many opportunities to learn more about life at Lehigh from students, admissions counselors and faculty. Wherever you are in the process—whether you’re just starting your search or ready to apply—here are a few of our recommendations:

• Attend an Information Session and Campus Tour ( On-campus or Virtually ): First you’ll want to hear from admissions counselors and current students to learn about academics, unique opportunities and student life at Lehigh. If you can't make it live, check out our on-demand Information Session and Campus Tour .  
• Learn more at a College-Specific Session or Specialized Session : Next, look into the distinctive opportunities and curriculums within each of our colleges, and delve deeper into topics of interest. Check out our on-demand library of sessions if you can't make it live.  
• Schedule an Interview or attend a Special Event : Finally, Lehigh interviews for rising seniors, and special events like Open Houses are a great way to connect and learn more.

On-Campus Visit Opportunities

Visit our quintessential college campus and learn more about life at Lehigh directly from our admissions counselors and student tour guides.

As you are registering, please carefully review the On-Campus Admissions Events Calendar and the specific description for each event for important details. Most events consist of a group information session and a student-guided campus tour in order to provide well-rounded information from both admissions counselors and current students. However, you are welcome to attend just one of the two components—simply register for an event, inform us of your individual circumstances via email, and attend as you can. There are also times in the academic year where we are unable to offer student-guided campus tours and it will be clear in the description of those events that tours are not offered and that visitors are welcome to take a self-guided tour of campus on their own.

Staying in Bethlehem? Find a hotel near Lehigh and make a plan to explore Bethlehem while you're on campus!

Information Sessions  

In the Group Information Session, an Office of Admissions staff member will share stories about unique and exclusive academic and research experiences, our vibrant community, traditions, and life in PA’s third largest metro area. The supportive Lehigh family and strong career placement are also discussed. The session concludes with admissions and financial aid basics.

Financial Aid Sessions

Join us to learn more about the financial aid process at Lehigh, including deadlines, requirements, types of aid, merit aid vs need-based aid and the financial aid formula.

Campus Tours

Student guides share their perspective on residential life, dining on campus and in Bethlehem, extra-curricular activities, course workload, relationships with professors, and student support services while highlighting important facilities across campus.

Interviews are available to rising high school seniors who wish to ask specific questions about Lehigh or provide additional context for their application. On-campus interviews may take place with an admissions counselor or a current student who is part of our Admissions Fellows program. Depending on where you are in your application process, you can also request a virtual interview with an alumnus (details available in the Virtual Interview section ). Lehigh interviews are evaluative, but not required as part of the application process. An interview can be a useful tool for Lehigh prospective applicants to share more of their story and learn more about the institution. Interviews last approximately 30 minutes. Students can only interview with Lehigh once.

General Interviews

General interviews are available during the fall semester on campus to rising seniors who are considering applying, or have already submitted an application, to Lehigh. They are typically conducted by a current student who is a member of our Admissions Fellows program, or one of our admissions counselors. This is the most widely available interview option. Students can only interview with Lehigh once.

Alumni Interviews

Alumni interviews are available to current seniors who have already submitted their application and have not yet completed an interview with Lehigh in any capacity. Learn more >

Large Group Visits

Thank you for your interest in sharing Lehigh University with your students! Please see below for additional information about the group visit experience at Lehigh.

Scheduling Your Visit

• Programming for groups 15 - 35 visitors (including chaperones) is offered on select weekdays and is available to Community-Based Organizations and schools with students enrolled in 9th-12th grade. For the spring semester, we prioritize groups containing 9th - 11th grade students.
• During the spring semester, group visits will include a tour of our Asa Packer Campus as well as a Q + A with one of our admissions team members.
• Our Asa Packer Campus tour is approximately 60 minutes in duration and includes moderate hills and steps.
• Please submit a group visit request on our calendar .
• Please note that selecting one of our time slots is not an approval of your request, and you should only request one visit date and time.  
• We will respond to your request within 5 business days of its submission.

Visit Us Virtually or On Your Own

• If our calendar of events does not meet the needs of your group, we would still love to welcome you to explore our campus through a self-guided tour or to visit us virtually .
• Groups smaller than 15 students, or students interested in visiting our campus independently, are encouraged to register for an in-person information session on our  Admissions Calendar .  

Dining Information

• Interested in dining while visiting Lehigh? You can choose to explore local Bethlehem eateries .  

Parking Information

• Address: Alumni Memorial Building: 27 Memorial Drive West, Bethlehem, PA 18015
• If you are traveling by bus: Please have your driver take your bus into the circle directly in front of the Alumni Memorial Building - you will recognize it by the large fountain/water feature in the middle of the circle. This area can be used for dropping off and picking up your students. 
• Due to campus parking regulations, buses cannot wait on the Asa Packer Campus.  We recommend parking your bus at our Goodman Campus during the visit.  View directions to Goodman Campus >

COVID-19 Guidelines for Visiting Campus

All visitors to campus agree to adhere to the University’s safety policies and protocols. Failure to do so will result in an immediate request to leave the campus. Please review the information shared below about the expectations and policies in place for visitors prior to registering for an event or visiting campus.

All visitors to campus should adhere to the following safety protocols:

• they have tested positive for COVID-19
• are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms
• they have come in close contact with a person who has symptoms of or has tested positive for COVID-19 within the past 14 days  
• Masks are optional indoors and outdoors on Lehigh campuses, with the exception of the Health and Wellness Center and in specific contexts where masking is required by event organizers or instructors. In these situations signage and/or other means will be used to communicate this requirement. Each member of your party should have a mask on hand at all times and must abide by the mask requirements of a particular location, facility, or event if applicable, regardless of their vaccination status. Our office reserves the right to institute a masking requirement at our discretion and for any particular portion or the whole duration of the visit, without prior notification. Some visitors or members of our community will choose to voluntarily wear a mask for personal safety, medical or other reasons. We encourage visitors to support one another in those decisions.  
• Visitors are welcome to enter most academic buildings and can dine in on-campus eateries on weekdays during the day.

Failure to follow these safety requirements will result in immediate request to leave campus.

Please find other Lehigh updates regarding COVID-19 >

• A limited number of free visitor parking spaces are available on a first-come-first-serve basis in the designated spaces on the lower levels of the Alumni Memorial Parking Garage, adjacent to the Alumni Memorial Building.
• Additional parking is available at the metered spaces on level 1 of the Alumni Memorial Parking Garage, on adjacent city side streets, and in public parking garages. Please note, some parking may require a fee or meter payment.
• In addition to the limited free visitor parking in the designated spaces on the lower levels of the Alumni Memorial Parking Garage, spaces on levels 2-6 of the garage are available, at a cost. If you park on levels 2-6, parking must be paid at the start of your visit. Parking rates are $1/hour plus a one time $.25 service fee per parking session. If you extend your time, there will be no additional service fee.
• Text LU11 to 25023. You will receive a link to enter your license plate number, amount of time you want to park and payment information. You will receive a text message 15 minutes before your time expires with a link to add more time. Alternatively, you can reopen the webpage where you originally paid to add more time as well.
• Scan the QR code on the signs located near the stairs and elevator in the garage or visit t2p.mobi/LU11 . Enter your license plate number, amount of time you want to park and payment information. If you would like to receive a text message 15 minutes before your time expires, you must create an account and add your phone number.
• Parking in any other area on campus will result in your vehicle being ticketed.

Office of Admissions Inclement Weather & Emergency Closing Policy

Lehigh University’s Office of Admissions strives to honor scheduled campus visits while keeping safety in mind. In the event that the University closes due to inclement weather or an emergency, all scheduled campus visits will also be canceled. Information regarding any changes to the University’s opening will be posted on the top of each page of Lehigh’s website. Students and families should check this page prior to traveling to Lehigh University if hazardous weather conditions are forecast.

Visiting students and their families are encouraged to exercise caution when determining whether to travel in inclement weather. Please use good judgment and put safety first when traveling and navigating campus. If a student or the University cancels an interview, information session, campus tour or other appointment due to inclement weather, it will not reflect negatively on the student’s application. We request that the student notifies the Office of Admissions of the reason for cancellation in a timely manner. The Office of Admissions cannot guarantee a rescheduled interview or other event if one is cancelled due to inclement weather or an emergency.

The three potential situations are outlined below: 

• University Closed (Full Day): Information sessions, tours, interviews and other events are canceled.  
• Delayed Opening: Information sessions, tours, and interviews scheduled during the delayed opening will be canceled.  Once the University reopens, information sessions and tours will continue at their scheduled times. If a student is already on campus for a cancelled interview, we will attempt to reschedule the interview for a time later that day.  
• Early Close: Information sessions, tours and interviews scheduled for a time after the University closes will be canceled. If a student is already on campus when the University closure announcement is made and their scheduled interview is canceled, we will work with the student to reschedule an in-person or online interview with the student for a later date but cannot guarantee that we will be able to find a mutually convenient time.

Virtual Visit Opportunities

Join us virtually to discover more about Lehigh University! Sessions with admissions counselors, current students and faculty will help you learn more about Lehigh from wherever you are.

We encourage you to check out  Hawktober , our virtual Open House that features sessions on various aspects of our Lehigh community throughout the entire month of October. 

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We encourage you to attend a live session if available, but if you are unable to please feel free to watch this on-demand session .

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Live Virtual Student-Guided Campus Tours

Join our current-student tour guides as they virtually take you across Lehigh's campus and share their experiences. Many topics and facilities that are particularly important to first-year students and their parents are included in the Live Virtual Student-Guided Tour, including residence life, dining, extra-curricular activities, course workload, relationships with professors, and student support services.

Virtual Tour

Our virtual tour is the next best thing to an in-person visit. You’ll follow the route of the undergraduate admissions tour to see academic and student life buildings while learning about life at Lehigh along the way.

YouTube and Instagram Live Tours

Follow our tour guides as they show you around campus on YouTube. You can watch the whole playlist or skip ahead to buildings you’re particularly interested in.

View a live-streamed tour from Instagram featuring our current student tour guides. Follow us on Instagram for more live-streamed events, Instagram Story Q&As and more.

Virtual Interviews

Interviews are available in the summer to rising high school seniors who wish to ask specific questions about Lehigh or provide additional context for their application. Interviews may take place with an admissions counselor, a current student who is part of our Admissions Fellows program, or an alumnus depending on where you are in your application process. Lehigh interviews are evaluative, but not required as part of the application process. All virtual interviews will be held via Zoom. An interview can be a useful tool for Lehigh prospective applicants to share more of their story and learn more about the institution. Interviews last approximately 30 minutes. Students can only interview with Lehigh once.

General interviews are available during the summer virtually to rising seniors who are considering applying, or have already submitted an application, to Lehigh. They are typically conducted by a current student who is a member of our Admissions Fellows program, or one of our admissions counselors. This is the most widely available interview option. Students can only interview with Lehigh once.

Alumni interviews are available to current seniors who have already submitted their application and have not yet completed an interview with Lehigh in any capacity. Applicants will have the opportunity to determine how they would like to be matched up with alumni interviewers based on a variety of factors such as geographic location, identity group or future career. Once a student has submitted their application and created their applicant portal, they will find the registration link in the bottom right hand side of the main portal page. The opportunity for an applicant to request an alumni interview is only available until the first week of January.

Virtual Student Panels

In these student panels, four to five current Lehigh students will share their stories about life on campus and answer questions from prospective students and families. Join us to learn more about Lehigh directly from our students, and bring your questions for the Q&A segment. All student panelists will be Lehigh juniors and seniors.

Advanced registration is required, no less than 24 hours before the event, and we will email a Zoom link for the event the day of or the evening prior.

Recording of Virtual International Student Panel

In this undergraduate student panel, current Lehigh international students shared their stories about life on campus, and answered questions from prospective students and families. View to learn more about life as an international undergraduate student at Lehigh from students and staff members from the Office of Admissions and the Office of International Students and Scholars.

View on-demand session >

Virtual Large Group Visits

Virtual programming for groups of 15 or more is offered on select weekdays and is available to Community-Based Organizations and schools with students enrolled in 9th-12th grade. Groups should make arrangements by completing the online registration form at least three weeks prior to their desired date for the virtual programming. Completion of this form is not a guarantee that we will be able to accommodate your group for a virtual event.

Our aim is to provide the best event experience to any student or group. On days when we anticipate a high volume of events or when our students are on break, we are unable to confirm any large group visits as we do not want to provide an experience that is less than our best. Please reach out if you have questions about dates our office may not be open.

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Join us for sessions that take a deep dive into topics like our colleges, special programs, student life opportunities and more.

Special Events

Special events include Open House, our Diversity Achievers Program and more.

Spotlight Sessions

Spotlight Sessions are unique events that each highlight a specific topic like the application process, academic experience, campus life and more. View upcoming sessions >

College-Specific Sessions

We offer several college- and program-specific virtual information sessions that delve deeper into areas of study. It is recommended, if possible, that students attend a general Virtual or On-Campus  Admissions Information Session for an introduction to Lehigh prior to attending a college and program-specific information session. If you are unable to attend a Virtual or On-Campus Admissions Information Session, you are still welcome to register for a college or program-specific information session.

Learn more about college- and program-specific sessions >

Class of 2028

Welcome to the lehigh family.

Find out if Lehigh is the right fit for you by exploring our campus and community, in-person and virtually. Between our Lehigh Fest (our on-campus Admitted Student Day), on-campus sessions and tours and a variety of specialized virtual sessions, there are many ways to engage and learn more.

Upcoming Special Visit Opportunities

Description

The P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science Preview provides an overview of Lehigh's engineering disciplines and hands-on approach to education, while highlighting some of the research and educational opportunities available to students of Lehigh Engineering. These college-specific information sessions are open to all prospective students.

At this important time of change in health and health care, Lehigh University's College of Health prepares students for a myriad of careers as well as pathways to graduate and medical school. The preview session will provide an overview on: an innovative curriculum that trains students to solve critical health issues through the lens of data science and health equity in the College's degree and minor programs; how the College integrates career and professional development to prepare students for their post-undergraduate goals; experiential learning and research opportunities available to students from the first time they step onto campus; and, potential career trajectories after graduation. These college-specific sessions are open to all prospective students.

Join us for a special tour and get the engineering scoop on Lehigh University. Meet one of the Academic Deans of the Rossin College and tour some of our "off the beaten path" spaces on campus. On the Asa Packer campus you will find labs related to manufacturing, electronics, environmental systems, structures, microscopy, and fabrication. Think big in Fritz, or think nano in Whitaker. Take the opportunity to really immerse yourself in the Lehigh engineering history as you see some of the most unique equipment on earth. Your tour guide will be one of our current students, who can tell you all about being a Lehigh Engineer!

This tour will meet in the Alumni Memorial Building and will include facilities on the Asa Packer Campus. We want to be respectful of each visitors' time and aim to have events start as promptly as possible. Please plan to arrive 15 minutes early to allow time for check-in.

Students in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) often comment that international opportunities, research with faculty, and hands-on learning experiences outside the classroom are the best parts of their Lehigh experience. Please join a group of CAS students and faculty in a panel discussion as they talk about the unique learning experiences they've engaged in. This event will offer a college overview and an opportunity to ask questions to CAS faculty and students.

On-Demand Events

Join admissions counselors to learn more about academics and student life, while hearing how Lehigh is built for tomorrow and prepares you for post-graduate success.

Please join us for a panel highlighting Lehigh University alumni from a variety of academic backgrounds and disciplines. They will share insight into their journeys following graduation, and highlight how their experiences at Lehigh aided in their current success.

Our Director of Admissions, Bruce Bunnick, wants to answer all questions you have about college admissions and what the process looks like here at Lehigh! This is a Q&A session, so please come with questions.

This Spotlight Session is a conversation with the Associate Deans from each of our four undergraduate colleges moderated by our Director of Admissions, Bruce Bunnick. For this session, the Associate Deans engage in discussions around the academic experiences on campus and answer questions from prospective students and parents.

Lehigh’s Virtual Spotlight Sessions are unique events that highlight a specific topic like the application process, academic experience, campus life, and more. This Athletic Recruitment Virtual Spotlight Session is on athletic recruitment. Hear from our athletics liaisons as they share important information about the athletic recruitment process.

Learn about the holistic application process at Lehigh.

Did you know that at Lehigh you can get the best of both coasts? Join us to learn more about Lehigh's Western Regional Office and Lehigh@NasdaqCenter located in our west coast home of San Francisco. Here students can engage in immersive experiences, internships, job placement and more!

Join current-student tour guides on a tour across campus, learning more about academic and student life spaces.

Join the Center for Career and Professional Development to learn more about internships, corporate relationships and alumni networking connections for Lehigh undergraduates. Hear how the CCPD is supporting students in our current virtual world.

Join the Center for Career and Professional Development (CCPD) to learn more about internships, co-ops, alumni networking connections for Lehigh undergraduates and support for students who want to pursue pre-professional careers. Hear how the CCPD supports students in developing skills, gaining experience and building the connections for life-long career development.

Learn about Impact Fellowship programs, a Office of Creative Inquiry program that provides hands-on experience working on large-scale, impact-focused projects locally and/or globally, throughout the academic year and in the summer. Students who have gone through the IF programs will talk about their project work and how they made an impact in the world.

Learn about the Mountaintop Summer Experience and the Data for Impact Summer Institute. Program directors will highlight how the programs work and how students get involved, and students who have participated in these programs will talk about their experiences and accomplishments.

Learn about Lehigh's efforts to diversify its undergraduate population and opportunities for students to to understand and recognize the value of diversity and inclusion, and discuss the university's commitment to an anti-racist campus community.

Lehigh is committed to providing support for all students from First+ to underrepresented backgrounds. In this session you will hear from our Affinity Centers—the Pride Center, Office of Multicultural Affairs, Center for Gender Equity, and Student Access and Success—to learn about the resources they provide.

In this Virtual Spotlight Session we will discuss what to look for when exploring engineering programs, finding the right fit, and how to apply to them.

The application process can be challenging, especially when you're the first person in your family to go through it. In this session, staff members discuss navigating the application process as a first generation college student.

This session will highlight the Global Citizenship Program at Lehigh, an interdisciplinary four-year cohort-based program in which students cultivate a committed mode of intervening in a world populated by others who we may not know but with whom we must co-create a viable future.

With eleven dining options, two food trucks, and even a smart market, there's something for everyone when it comes to food on campus. The same can be said about our housing—your options range from traditional residence halls all the way through to themed housing and suite- and apartment- style living. Join staff members from our Dining Services, Residential Services and Housing offices to learn more about Dining and Housing at Lehigh University.

Lehigh’s Virtual Spotlight Sessions are unique events that highlight a specific topic like the application process, academic experience, campus life, and more. This Virtual Spotlight Session is on interviewing. In this session you will hear from one of our admissions counselors as they share information about the interview process.

Explore the Iacocca Institute's global leadership programs, including the Iacocca Global Village, a unique leadership experience with both an intensive summer residency and extended virtual community for students and young professionals from all over the world.

The Iacocca International Internship Program (IIIP) is a fully funded internship opportunity for Lehigh students to work or do research overseas during the summer. When COVID-19 impacted students’ ability to travel, IIIP pivoted to provide virtual internships for students. Join this session to learn more about global internship opportunities for students in 2021 and beyond.

Lehigh’s Virtual Spotlight Sessions are unique events that highlight a specific topic like the application process, academic experience, campus life, and more. This Virtual Spotlight Session is on International Admission. In this session you will hear from some of our international admissions counselors as they share tips on how to navigate the college admissions process as an international student.

Hear from international student alumni and learn about their experiences on campus, and their post-graduate success.

This Virtual Spotlight Session is on international financial aid. In this session you will hear from one of our admissions counselors as they share information about the process of applying for international financial aid.

Join us to learn about Lehigh Launch Semester, our first-semester experiential learning opportunity that takes place in Ecuador. Lehigh Launch is for students with intellectual curiosity and a global perspective. Learn about the classroom- and field-based learning in Quito, the Amazon, and the Galapagos Islands.

Join us to learn more about Lehigh Launch, our first-semester experiential learning opportunity in Lander, WY and Taos, NM. Hear from the program director, a National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) instructor, about the classroom- and field-based learning, as well as backpacking and canoeing expeditions. Current Lehigh Launch students will join to discuss the COVID-19-modified Lehigh program this year.

Learn about Lehigh Launch Semester, our first-semester study-away experiential learning opportunity that takes place in the American West, or Ecuador and the Galapagos. Lehigh Launch is for students with intellectual curiosity and leadership potential. Learn about the classroom- and field-based learning in Wyoming and New Mexico, and in Quito, Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands.

Hear from the Office of First-Year Experience (OFYE) and the Office of Registration & Academic Services (RAS) to learn about the support they provided to new transfer students at Lehigh. Stefanie Burke, the Director of First-Year Experience, will speak about support and resources to help students transition to campus. Learn about what happens over the summer before your arrival on campus, orientation, and the support you will receive throughout your first year at Lehigh. The Office of Registration & Academic Services (RAS) plays a key role in facilitating the academic experience of students. Alison Valish from RAS will cover topics like course registration and transfer credits.

Lehigh’s Application Launch Sessions are a series of workshops designed to prepare students to apply for college admission. These workshops will each focus on a specific area of the application and its review process.

Most applications have one main essay and some institutions will require or have optional supplemental essays. This session will cover ways that essays are reviewed and provide tips on writing your essay.

This session will provide an overview of the sections of the application and discuss how to best represent your activities on your application.

This session will provide an overview of holistic admissions and how that process is applied when reviewing applications. It will go into more detail on ways that institutions identify academic and social fit through a holistic process.

This session will discuss how the transcript and letters of recommendation are reviewed as part of the holistic process. It will also provide tips on choosing recommenders.

This Spotlight Session features the Office of Admissions and F1RST (First-Generation Initiative Represented by Students and Teachers). Hear from a student panel of first generation students at Lehigh, followed by first generation trivia.

In this session we will share tips on how to prepare for Admissions Interviews.

In this session, we will share tips and insight on how to go through the application process as a first generation college student.

Hear from our Interim Director of the Pride Center for Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, Scott Burden, as he shares resources and tips to use for as you search to find the best college fit for you.

As soon as you commit to Lehigh, 85,000 alumni around the world become part of your community. What does that mean for you? What makes Lehigh's network unique? How can you take advantage of it as a student? How can you benefit from it right after graduation, and then 5, 10, 70 years later?

This Spotlight Session is about the Pre-Health track at Lehigh. Hear from our Pre-Health advisor, Mary Ellen Raposa, about advising, resources, and support offered at Lehigh. In addition, hear from current Pre-Health students, who serve as Med Mentors, about their experiences.

Safety and security on Lehigh's campus will be addressed by Jason Shiffer, Chief of the Lehigh University Police Department, including ways that undergraduates play a key partnership role in the mission of the LUPD.

Is being involved in clubs and organizations something you know will absolutely be a part of your college experience? If yes, then Lehigh is the place for you as 93% of students are involved in at least one activity! Join members of Student Senate as they talk about student involvement at Lehigh, the different clubs and organizations we have, and the vast amount of university-wide programming that takes place. This is a Q&A session, so please come with questions. You will receive an invitation from Zoom with the link to access the event the day of or the evening prior.

This session will help students to appreciate the opportunities for personal growth through involvement in original research, both with the faculty and independently, and regardless of what subject areas interest them.

Our admissions counselor will share insight on what makes a great supplemental essay and other tips.

Join us to learn more about sustainability at Lehigh in a fun and interactive session. Hear from sustainability officer, Katharine Targett Gross and sustainability program manager, Audrey McSain, about Lehigh's 2030 Sustainability Plan, Climate Action Strategy, and how you can get involved in sustainability on campus. A panel of current Lehigh students will join us to discuss their sustainability story and what their involvement in campus sustainability has meant to them.

In this Live Virtual Spotlight Session you’ll learn more about how to write a college essay and to hear tips from one of our admissions counselors.

Transition and change can be both exciting and challenging. The Office of First-Year Experience provides support and resources for the academic and social transition of new students and their families. In this session, hear from the Director of First-Year Experience and learn about everything from Orientation to continued support at Lehigh during a critical transition from high school to college.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be an NGO Youth Representative at the United Nations, to explore your entrepreneurial side, to complete an internship abroad, or to spend a semester harnessing your leadership skills while exploring the world? These are just some of the many opportunities that make Lehigh unique. In this session you will learn more about our UN Partnership, Baker Institute, Iacocca International Internship and the first-semester Lehigh Launch Program.

Learn about Lehigh's relationship with the United Nations, including our NGO status, opportunities for undergrads to intern at the UN, and the chance to hear from global leaders.

This Live Virtual Spotlight Session is on Lehigh's Affinity Centers. In this session you will hear about Lehigh's Affinity Centers and have the opportunity to chat with current students involved in the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Center for Gender Equity and Pride Center.

This Virtual Spotlight Session is on our Western Regional Office. Lehigh established the Western Regional Office (WRO) to extend opportunities for students, faculty and alumni through curricular and research partnerships with dynamic enterprises in key western cities. Join us to learn more about the WRO, Lehigh@Nasdaq Center partnership and the ways in which we educate, connect and inspire the next generation of global entrepreneurial leaders.

This Live Virtual Spotlight Session is featuring women in STEM. Join us to hear from a panel of female Lehigh alum who are all pursuing STEM related careers after their time in undergrad. Please come with questions!

Admissions Materials

Get an overview of Lehigh as you explore digital versions of the same print brochures found in our lobby for in-person visitors.

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Kyle Rittenhouse, deadly shooter, college speaker? A campus gun-rights tour sparks outrage

Kyle Rittenhouse is not a typical college campus speaker.

In 2020, at the age of 17, he took an AR-15-style rifle to a Black Lives Matter demonstration and fired it, killing two people and injuring a third. Rittenhouse said he pulled the trigger in self-defense and was acquitted of wrongdoing .

He has since penned a book, “Acquitted,” and has set out on a series of college speaking events dubbed the " Rittenhouse Recap ." He is slated to appear Thursday at Clemson University in South Carolina.

Rittenhouse is selling books, and ostensibly promoting the right to bear arms on campus, but he’s also trying to persuade young people to join the conservative movement. The key group behind the appearances, Turning Point USA, is led by the self-described “youth director” of President Donald Trump’s first campaign and a key ally rallying votes for Trump this year.

The group told USA TODAY that it isn’t a nationally organized tour – that its chapters independently requested Rittenhouse. Student chapter leaders told USA TODAY that Rittenhouse is an important conversation starter. “I think sometimes you have to be kind of polarizing to pull a crowd," said Brady Seymour, president of Turning Point USA's chapter at Kent State University in Ohio.

The provocative choice of backing the Rittenhouse tour is par for the course for Turning Point and its local affiliates, which have hosted controversial figures like Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist and Holocaust denier . But it has stirred up devastating pain and disdain in a man he almost killed.

"He has used every moment to gloat and to make light of taking life," Paul Prediger said, speaking publicly for the first time about what happened in protest of a Rittenhouse speech last week at Kent State. "As if that were not enough, Kyle has embraced and been embraced by those who peddle hateful rhetoric, who believe in nationalism that excludes those who do not look like or think like them, and who have sought to amplify a troubling desire for violence against supposed political, cultural, and religious enemies."

Rittenhouse's message on his campus tour – that students should be allowed to take up arms, including to fend off "these Hamas, Palestinian terrorists" if they invade dormitories – has sparked protests and raised questions about free speech and just how far it should be allowed to go. A similar question helped lead to the resignations of the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University , who stepped down amid fierce criticism for equivocating when asked if calls for the genocide of Jews would be allowed on campus.

Rittenhouse, in a statement provided by spokesperson Jillian Anderson, said his campus appearances are not part of an official tour or book-selling venture, and he is reminding students of their rights. "Every American has a constitutional right to bear arms," he said, "and it should not be infringed by a college campus."

Experts say context matters. Tom Ginsburg, a law professor at the University of Chicago and faculty director of the forum on free inquiry and expression, told USA TODAY that federal regulations require colleges and universities to ensure their learning environment is not hostile. Within that framework, some incendiary language could be permitted in a general public space but prohibited if directed at an individual or group.

"That's a key distinction," he said. "Is it said in general, as part of a general demonstration, or is it shouted at a particular group of people who might then reasonably perceive it as being a threat of some kind? And if it's the latter, then it could be punished."

Kyle Rittenhouse says students should carry guns on campus

On the evening of Aug. 25, 2020 , Rittenhouse brought a rifle to the site of intense protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, sparked by the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man. Amid a scuffle with protesters, Rittenhouse fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and wounded Prediger.

In a trial that drew national attention in 2021, Rittenhouse said he shot the men in self-defense after Rosenbaum threatened his life and Prediger pointed a gun at him. Prediger said he thought Rittenhouse was an active shooter. Critics said Rittenhouse had no right to fire his weapon and was illegally acting as a vigilante militia. A jury acquitted him of all five charges he faced, including intentional homicide.

Rittenhouse soon took on celebrity status in right-wing circles where the right to bear arms and use them to defend life and property is sacrosanct. The weekend after his trial, he flew to Florida to visit Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort and to appear on Fox News for an interview with conservative host Tucker Carlson.

At Kent State, Rittenhouse implored students to fight to be allowed to carry guns at school.

"We have these blue boxes that are on the campus – we've all seen them, you push a button, it calls the police, and you get connected to a dispatcher," he said. "How long does it take a cop to show up, though? When somebody is trying to kidnap you or somebody is threatening your life, is that the quickest option to be able to protect yourself?"

He encouraged students to join conservative groups like Turning Point USA and said elected officials don't care about them.

"What makes me really scared, and I get really upset that people, especially young campus students, aren't allowed to carry firearms, just because I'm scared that what happens if these Hamas, Palestinian terrorists come to the U.S. and try to attack us?" Rittenhouse said. "Are we supposed to be left defenseless? Are you supposed to be left defenseless because you're not allowed to have a gun in your dormitory?"

After Prediger – formerly known as Gaige Grosskreutz – criticized his speaking tour, Rittenhouse posted a video clip on X, formerly Twitter. It showed Prediger admitting he pointed a gun in Rittenhouse's direction before being shot. Rittenhouse did not include text in the post.

Students accuse Turning Point of 'hateful actions'

In the days leading up to his arrival at Kent State, demonstrators staged a walkout, organized a vigil, and spray painted "Welcome, killer" on a free-speech landmark. A Change.org petition urging the university and Turning Point USA to cancel Rittenhouse's visit gathered more than 3,700 signatures. The event spurred Prediger to speak out. Hundreds showed up to protest.

"I stand with the students of Kent State University who have had enough," Prediger said.

Students said it was particularly insensitive for the campus to host Rittenhouse and his message about guns on campus given the school's history. On May 4, 1970, four students were gunned down at Kent State when the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd gathered to protest the invasion of Cambodia during the Vietnam War.

Aimée Flores, a representative from the university's Spanish and Latine Student Association, said the organization encouraged students "to learn more about Turning Point USA.... their hateful actions on campus and throughout this whole year, why we don't agree with their actions."

Seymour, the school's Turning Point chapter president, said the event was about "creating conversation." It had no relation to the 1970 killing of protestors, he said.

"In his speech, he talked mostly about having the right to carry on campus, considering students aren't allowed to at Kent State," Seymour said.

"These two stories are completely different and 50 years apart," he said.

Protests at every campus on 'Rittenhouse Recap' tour

Other “Rittenhouse Recap” appearances prompted vocal opposition and protest.

At Western Kentucky University , protesters held a sit-in and march last month. His appearance at East Tennessee State University in February also sparked demonstrations – local press reports show one protester wielding a sign accusing Turning Point of empowering "stochastic terrorism" – the incitement of violence through public demonization of a person or group.

In the days leading up to Rittenhouse's appearance at The University of Memphis in March, the school fielded a barrage of complaints from students, faculty, and community members. Protesters held signs with messages like, “Put Rittenhouse behind bars, not a podium.” Rittenhouse abruptly left the stage after about 30 minutes as protesters shouted him down.

Universities said allowing the events – and the protests – upholds key tenets of American democracy and academic tradition: Free speech and freedom of assembly. Turning Point USA’s chapter at The University of Memphis is a registered student organization, the school said.

"We cannot ban speech because it would go against a core value and because of well-established laws governing free speech on public university campuses,” Kent State said in a statement provided to USA TODAY. “Upholding the First Amendment rights of free speech and peaceful assembly for all, the university has a long history of allowing peaceful dialogue from all points of view, including those whom some may feel are offering different and/or sometimes controversial opinions."

Turning Point has history of booking controversial speakers

Turning Point USA has a track record of booking controversial and provocative figures, placing it at the center of debates over First Amendment rights on college campuses, where it says it has grown to more than 800 chapters since its founding in 2012.

In late 2016 and early 2017, the group was behind a nationwide campus speaking tour by Milo Yiannopoulos – a former Breitbart writer banned from Twitter for harassment and dropped from the agenda at a Conservative Political Action Conference after videos surfaced of him defending sexual relationships between 13-year-old boys and grown men. Yiannopoulos said he was joking and may have used "imprecise language."

In 2019, Turning Point’s Iowa State University chapter claimed partial responsibility for extending a speaking invitation to Fuentes, a white nationalist who has said he wants a "total Aryan victory" and self-identified as a "sexist man," according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Last year, representatives of the group confronted, criticized and assaulted an LGBTQ+ instructor at Arizona State University in Tempe.

Turning Point has taken action against members for promoting hate speech. In 2019, the group expelled a member at the University of Nevada Las Vegas after a video surfaced of the student shouting "white power" and using a white supremacist hand sign.

Andrew Kolvet, a spokesperson for Turning Point USA, said the Fuentes event was not sanctioned, and a local chapter official was tricked into arranging the appearance. He said that Turning Points has repeatedly denounced white nationalism . Kolvet said that in general, students should be able to hear from controversial speakers. "We do our best to make sure that there's going to be enriching discussion, that the speaker is going to be, I would say, uplifting, inspiring, productive."

He said Turning Point chapters chose Rittenhouse as a speaker. "There just happened to be schools that asked for Kyle because he came out with a book and he made himself available, essentially."

Turning Point touts itself as a key player in conservative politics , as does its founder and president, Charlie Kirk , who told conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh 's show in 2019 that he “traveled the country for about 70 days straight carrying Donald Trump Jr.’s bags and getting his Diet Cokes.” In addition to becoming Trump Jr.'s "body man," he took on the role of "youth director of the campaign," Kirk said. Speaking at the Republican National Convention in 2020, he called President Trump the "bodyguard of Western civilization."

Kirk also speaks on college campuses, where his fiery rhetoric has sparked controversy. At a speech last fall at Missouri State University , he said all immigration to the U.S. should be halted, called global warming an "academic distraction," and speculated about how many Hamas sleeper cells might be active in the U.S.

Expert says universities grappling with non-academic provocateurs

Ginsburg stressed that colleges and universities must allow free speech. "It’s pretty clear that their obligation is to make sure that event goes forward and to make sure it's not disrupted," he said. "At the same time, peaceful protest also has a long tradition on campus."  

Ginsburg said an added dimension to their challenges is the more recent phenomenon of campus speakers who intentionally draw negative attention.

"What we're now seeing is that people are sometimes getting invited to campus who aren't necessarily academics. They're not articulating a truly academic point of view," Ginsburg said. "In some cases, we have provocateurs, including some people who actually are seeking to be canceled, seeking to be protested."

He said people like Rittenhouse often capitalize on controversy. "He's certainly part of a media ecosystem in which you do have some of those kind of characters where, if you can get canceled, it ups your follower rate and you can portray yourself as a victim," he said.

To the Turning Point leader at Kent State, it's a tactic the group uses to advance conversation.

"That's the sad reality of how people are," Seymour said. "You kind of have to stir up drama or be a polarizing character for people to end up paying attention to you."

Cybele Mayes-Osterman is a breaking news reporter for USA Today. Reach her by email at [email protected]. Follow her on X @CybeleMO.

Rare visit by House speaker to campus escalates tension at Columbia

“Get off our campus!” one student yelled. “Go back to Louisiana, Mike!” someone shouted.

NEW YORK — House Speaker Mike Johnson and his Republican colleagues were met with boos, laughs and pro-Palestinian chants after parachuting into one center of the roiling protest movement against Israel’s war against Hamas: Columbia University in New York City.

Johnson and a group of GOP lawmakers landed on campus — where tensions are high between the university administration and students who have erected pro-Palestinian encampments — and demanded that Columbia’s president, Nemat “Minouche” Shafik, resign for failing to quickly dismantle the encampments and, in their view, for not doing enough to ensure that Jewish people on campus feel safe.

Around 4 p.m. Wednesday, the Louisiana Republican — who just shepherded through Congress a $26 billion aid package for Israel, including $9 billion in humanitarian help to Gaza and elsewhere — appeared on the steps of Columbia’s stately library, which looks out over the student encampments. Signs of a campus on edge were all over: A dozen New York police officers stood guard outside the school’s big black gates on Broadway. Bike racks strung with yellow police tape cordoned off some of the sidewalk.

“I am here today joining my colleagues and calling on President Shafik to resign if she could not immediately bring order to this chaos,” Johnson said. “As speaker of the House, I’m committed today that the Congress will not be silent as Jewish students are expected to run for their lives and stay home from their classes hiding in fear.”

A crowd of students, swelling as Johnson and his colleagues began speaking, intermittently laughed and yelled that they couldn’t hear the congressman or his colleagues. The students booed the speaker, chanted in support of Palestine, including “Free Palestine,” “Stop the genocide” and “ From the river to the sea ,” a phrase that some say constitutes antisemitic speech.

“Enjoy your free speech,” Johnson rejoined, sounding uncharacteristically irritated.

As Johnson wrapped up, the students renewed their boos and began to chant, “Mike, you suck!”

House Republicans have long accused elite colleges and universities of skewing left and pursuing a “woke” agenda that tramples on parental rights. But the antiwar outbursts on campuses across the country that began shortly after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel — and the rise of antisemitism on college campuses, according to the Anti-Defamation League — are now oft-repeated targets of Republican criticism. GOP lawmakers are seeking to slash federal funding for universities and have hauled university officials to Capitol Hill to answer questions such as whether “calling for the genocide of Jews” would violate their schools’ code of conduct.

“If these campuses cannot get control of this problem, they do not deserve taxpayer dollars,” Johnson said. “We’ll continue to work on legislation to adjust this at the federal level. This Congress — and I genuinely believe there’s bipartisan agreement on this — will stand for what is good and what is right.”

House Democrats descended Monday onto Columbia’s campus to express outrage over antisemitic harassment of Jewish students on and around campus. They included Jewish Reps. Josh Gottheimer (N.J.), Dan Goldman (N.Y.), Jared Moskowitz (Fla.) and Kathy Manning (N.C.).

The lawmakers’ pleas were not as forceful as Republicans’, who left no room for distinction between those targeting Jewish students and those peacefully protesting the Israel-Gaza war . But the Democrats were adamant about the need to protect students with backgrounds like theirs.

“Imagine trying to study for finals at Columbia, while people outside the library are calling for your death,” Gottheimer said at a news conference following their walk through campus. “To the administrators at Columbia and beyond, here are our demands: Stop the double talk and start acting. Discipline harassers. Restore civility on this campus. Encourage peaceful, constructive, civil dialogue. Every student has a right to be safe on campus.”

Johnson’s remarks came after he met with Jewish students at Columbia University, shared a meal with the university’s Rabbi Yuda Drizin and briefly met with Shafik before the news conference with three New York House Republicans and House Education and the Workforce Chair Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.). Johnson said Republicans met with Shafik and other top officials and left the meeting believing that they had “not acted to restore order on the campus.”

Asked whether he believes the National Guard should be sent in to restore order on college campuses across the country, Johnson said, “If this is not contained quickly, and if these threats and intimidation are not stopped, there is an appropriate time for the National Guard.”

Johnson also said he would call President Biden to inform him about what he saw on campus and “demand that he take action. There is executive authority that would be appropriate.”

The speaker’s visit marks the first time the top representative in the U.S. House has visited a college campus amid ongoing protests that have led to tense exchanges between pro-Palestinian and Jewish students. More than 100 people on Columbia’s campus were recently arrested and charged with trespassing, with several students who took part in the protest facing suspension just weeks before year’s end. Shafik called on the New York Police Department, whose officers arrived in riot gear, to arrest protesters just one day after she and other Columbia leaders told Congress she would make changes aimed at ending the harassment of Jewish students. The school also announced it would start a hybrid learning model for the rest of the year.

Neither Johnson nor Congress has any power to force a university president’s resignation. White House press secretary Karine Jean Pierre on Wednesday declined to weigh in on whether Shafik should resign, telling reporters, “Columbia’s a private institution. We’ve been very consistent here about not commenting on personnel matters.”

House Republicans who visited Columbia with the speaker made clear they would follow through with punishing colleges and universities if the protests are not controlled.

“The inmates are running the asylum,” Foxx said. “The [Education and Workforce] committee will pursue every possible avenue to create a safe learning environment for Jewish students.”

Rep. Michael Lawler (R-N.Y.) was much more forceful in his rebuke of students, acknowledging that he too wants Palestinians to be free “from their oppressor, Hamas,” and characterized any students who support the terrorist organization as “an absolute abomination.”

“If you are a protester on this campus, and you are proud that you’ve been endorsed by Hamas, you are part of the problem,” fellow N.Y. Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R) said.

House Republicans have been pummeling the heads of elite university institutions for months, using them as a punching bag to make a broader point about how out-of-touch elite institutions are with normal Americans. Johnson has previously invited Jewish students to meet with him in the Capitol, and he has often allowed them to tell their stories of being under attack at school during news conferences.

At a December hearing, the interrogation by House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) of Harvard President Claudine Gay over whether antisemitic remarks should be protected under free speech went viral.

The hearing led to a bipartisan call on Capitol Hill to denounce or demand the resignation of leaders at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for their responses, which were deemed out of touch. Penn President Liz Magill and Gay both resigned amid public outcry.

The hearing launched further investigations by the committee and continual hearings to combat antisemitism on college campus, ending in Shafik’s Capitol Hill testimony last Wednesday.

The Israel-Gaza war is also contentious among House Democrats, with liberals clashing with some Jewish colleagues early on in the war. That prompted Democratic leadership to attempt to keep attacks from becoming personal. Over the weekend, 37 liberals voted against sending $14 billion in aid to Israel over concerns that humanitarian aid would not reach Gaza, joining 21 Republicans who did not support the measure over spending concerns.

It’s just as complicated on Columbia’s campus. Basil Rodriguez, 23, argued Wednesday that Johnson and any lawmaker who backed sending aid to Israel is responsible for the deaths of thousands of Palestinians.

“I would urge him to reckon with his own positionality in the United States government and how the U.S. has been sending weapons that are falling in Gaza,” said Rodriguez, who is participating in the student encampment on campus. “He is directly complicit in this genocide unless he is a vocal advocate for it to stop.”

For Jewish student Spencer Davis, 19, the situation at Columbia is more nuanced than many of its critics have portrayed.

A member of a joint program between the Jewish Theological Seminary and Columbia, he was in the crowd watching Johnson speak. He said he feels safe on campus but understands why others do not and that his roommate booked a last-minute flight home over safety concerns. Davis said people have thrown things at members of his Jewish fraternity.

Still, Davis said, he believes the protests have been largely peaceful and questioned the motivations of politicians such as Johnson who have decried the encampment and Columbia’s leadership. “I think that a lot of Republican congresspeople are using this opportunity to further their culture war against liberal institutions like Columbia,” Davis said. “I think it has less to do with protecting Jewish students and more to do with their agenda, and they’re using Jewish students as pawns.”

Campus protests live update: Police arrest protesters at USC, UT Austin as pro-Palestinian demonstrations spread to more campuses

The latest on pro-palestinian campus protests.

• University of Southern California police arrested 93 people after they warned protesters to disperse. The university said protests devolved into vandalism and confrontations.
• Columbia University said this morning that student protesters had agreed to take down "a significant number of tents," but protests will continue.
• The university said protesters had agreed to ensure anyone not enrolled at Columbia would leave campus, the encampment would follow fire safety rules, and discriminatory or harassing language would be prohibited.
• Protests are spreading at campuses across the U.S., with encampments now established at Harvard University, Brown University, the University of Michigan, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt.

How the Columbia protests sparked campus demonstrations across the country

Doha Madani

Selina Guevara

Corky Siemaszko

It just added fuel to the fire.

The decision by Columbia University’s president, Nemat “Minouche” Shafik, to call in the New York Police Department to clear pro-Palestinian protesters from the campus last week appears to have sparked the spate of increasingly strident demonstrations that have erupted at universities in New York City and across the country in recent days, students and faculty members said.

Since Thursday, when police  arrested 108 Columbia University demonstrators, similar protests have erupted on campuses across the country.

The encampment at Columbia sprung up April 17, the day Shafik was grilled about  on-campus antisemitism  by the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Shafik faced questions about her handling of antisemitism on campus after Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7 alongside two members of Columbia’s Board of Trustees and the head of its antisemitism task force. The next day, Shafik had police clear the encampment; more than 100 protesters were arrested.

Read the full story here.

93 arrested at University of Southern California, police say

Phil Helsel

The Los Angeles Police Department said late tonight that 93 people were arrested at today’s protest at the University of Southern California.

There were no injuries, the LAPD said on X. The arrests were for trespassing.

“Patrols will remain in the area through tomorrow,” the department said.

Group outside Travis County Jail in Austin chants ‘let them out’

AUSTIN, Texas — Around 150 people outside the Travis County Jail in Austin chanted “let them out” and “free Palestine” tonight after more than 30 people were arrested in demonstrations at the University of Texas at Austin.

At least 34 people were arrested at the demonstration at the university earlier today, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.

University President Jay Hartzell said that a group tried to “occupy” part of the campus in protest over the war in Gaza, broke university policies and refused multiple requests to leave.

The demonstrators outside the jail tonight beat on a drum and chanted, “All charges have got to go.”

UT Austin faculty condemn leadership, say they won’t teach tomorrow

Meriam Bouarrouj

A letter that says it is from “concerned UT Austin faculty” condemned university leaders and said faculty members won’t work tomorrow because of the school’s “militarized response” to a student event.

“No business as usual tomorrow. No classes. No grading. No work. No assignments,” the letter read. It was not clear from the letter how many faculty members planned to participate.

A university spokesperson said the administration had seen the statement but would not comment on it.

Several professors shared the letter today on social media. It called out President Jay Hartzell and other administrators for allowing police on the campus and turning it into a “militarized zone” in response to a planned “Public University for Gaza” event on the school’s main lawn.

The planned event featured no threat of violence, no disruption to classes and no intimidation of the campus community, the letter noted.

“We are deeply concerned about our students’ well-being and safety,” the letter read. “We have witnessed police punching a female student, knocking over a legal observer, dragging a student over a chain link fence, and violently arresting students simply for standing at the front of the crowd.”

The Texas Department of Public Safety did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the letter.

Students at University of Michigan encampment vow to stay

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Around 120 people gathered to hear speeches at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor today condemning the war in Gaza, while those at an encampment there vowed to stay until their demands are met.

Those at the encampment in support of Gaza say they want the university to “divest,” a demand also made at other colleges that they not support entities that could be linked to the war and sometimes not to invest in Israel.

The university says it shields decisions about investments from outside pressure.

“Regarding the calls for divestment, the university has had a  policy in place for nearly 20 years that shields the university’s investments from political pressures,” a spokesperson has said.

“Much of the money invested through the university’s endowment, for example, is donor funding given to provide long-term financial support for designated purposes,” the spokesperson said.

Derek Peterson, an African history professor, today saluted the protesters.

“The insults to humanity that’s going on in Gaza today requires action and not simple passive response," he said.

‘Our University will not be occupied,' UT Austin president says

The president of the University of Texas at Austin called today “a challenging day” but said protesters will not be allowed to break the school's rules and policies.

“Our University will not be occupied,” President Jay Hartzell said.

“The protesters tried to deliver on their stated intent to occupy campus. People not affiliated with UT joined them, and many ignored University officials’ continual pleas for restraint and to immediately disperse,” Hartzell wrote.

Protesters against the war in Gaza have attempted to set up encampments at universities all over the country to show their opposition for the conflict.

Hartzell said the university respects free speech but will take all necessary steps to ensure it can continue to operate without interruption.

At least 34 arrests made at UT Austin, Texas police say

As of 9 p.m. local time, there have been 34 arrests at the University of Texas at Austin after demonstrations opposing the war in Gaza, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.

Around 50 arrested at USC, police say

Los Angeles police said around 50 people have been arrested so far at the University of Southern California after protesters refused to leave the central campus, NBC Los Angeles reported .

The demonstration earlier prompted the school's provost to restrict access to the University Park campus after he said "their actions have escalated to include acts of vandalism, defacing campus buildings and structures, as well as physical confrontation that threatens the safety of our officers and campus community."

Police moved in at around 6 p.m. PT after warnings were issued that those who remained would be subject to arrest.

Police detaining protesters at USC campus

Police at the University of Southern California began detaining demonstrators in plastic hand restraints after a group of Gaza war protesters refused to leave.

Officers took demonstrators one by one to police vans, video from NBC Los Angeles at the scene showed. Others stood by and watched from around the area.

After being warned to leave or face arrest, a group of demonstrators locked arms in a circle and chanted that they wanted USC to disclose its investments and divest from entities associated with war.

The arrests appeared to be orderly and peaceful.

Jewish Federation of Los Angeles calls campus protests alarming

A Jewish group in Los Angeles today called the tone of protests on campus against the war in Gaza alarming and said it was concerned about antisemitism.

The Jewish Federation of Los Angeles issued the statement on the day a demonstration on the campus of the University of Southern California, which is in Los Angeles, devolved into vandalism and confrontations, according to the university.

“While we believe in peaceful civic discourse, these protests have escalated to the point of creating a dangerous climate for Jews on campus,” the Jewish Federation said in a statement.

According to authorities in Gaza, more than 30,000 people have been killed in the enclave in Israel's response to Hamas terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, which killed about 1,200 people.

USC deans permitted to move classes online

Madeline Morrison

The provost of the University of Southern California has allowed academic deans to move classes online for the rest of the week, the university said in a statement.

Instructors also have the option to continue to teach in person, the statement said.

Police have moved onto the campus and given orders for protesters to disperse or face arrest, and some protesters have been detained.

Protesters enter intersection near USC as police prepare to move on campus demonstration

A group of protesters have moved into an intersection near the University of Southern in California, where the LAPD was preparing to move on other protesters.

Aerial video from NBC Los Angeles showed some cars doing U-turns and going back the way they came after the group stood in the T-shaped intersection with signs.

Princeton threatens arrest, expulsion for students in encampments

Yasmeen Persaud

Rudy Chinchilla

University officials today warned Princeton students that they will be arrested and barred from the New Jersey campus if they participate in encampments or engage in other “unlawful disruptive conduct."

In an email to students, Vice President for Campus Life W. Rochelle Calhoun reiterated the school’s support for freedom of expression but said officials would step in when protests disrupt operations or create “unsafe” situations.

“In addition to disrupting University operations, some types of protest actions (including occupying or blocking access to buildings, establishing outdoor encampments and sleeping in any campus outdoor space) are inherently unsafe for both those involved and for bystanders, and they increase the potential for escalation and confrontation,” Calhoun wrote.

That conduct is prohibited, and it runs counter to the university’s mission and legal obligation to provide a safe environment for students and employees, she continued, adding that the school will “act promptly in order to address it.”

“Any individual involved in an encampment, occupation, or other unlawful disruptive conduct who refuses to stop after a warning will be arrested and immediately barred from campus,” she said. “For students, such exclusion from campus would jeopardize their ability to complete the semester.”

Potential disciplinary action includes suspension, delay of diploma or expulsion, she added.  

Police seen moving in on protest at USC

Police detained at least one protester on the campus of the University of Southern California as they moved in to clear demonstrators from the center of campus.

Officers with helmets on moved into the area at around 5:37 p.m. PT after USC Police Chief Lauretta Hill warned people to leave Alumni Park, saying that it was private property and that they had 10 minutes to leave or face arrest.

A group linked arms and formed a circle, chanting “disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest.” Another person wrote a jail support phone number on their arms expecting to be arrested, video from NBC Los Angeles showed.

Officers with riot helmets and batons detained a protester outside the school’s public affairs building, and a crowd chanted, “Let her go!"

Earlier today, USC Provost Andrew Guzman said that protesters refused orders to move to a “compliant location” and that the campus would be closed and visitors would be restricted.

“Their actions have escalated to include acts of vandalism, defacing campus buildings and structures, as well as physical confrontation that threatens the safety of our officers and campus community,” Guzman, who is also USC’s senior vice president for academic affairs, said in a letter to the campus.

Many of the demonstrators appeared not to be connected to USC, he wrote. At one point, a chanting crowd surrounded a police vehicle, video showed. Other video showed security removing a tent.

Throughout the afternoon, USC said there was “still significant activity at the center of the UPC campus due to a demonstration” and urged people to avoid it.

LAPD will clear USC, make arrests if people stay, campus police say

Protesters refusing to leave the center of the USC campus in University Park will be arrested, the university security department warned moments ago.

"The Los Angeles Police Department is clearing the center of the UPC campus. If you are in the center of campus, please leave; LAPD will be arresting people who don’t disperse," the USC Department of Public Safety said on X at around 5:50 p.m. PT.

USC police chief threatens charges to those who remain in park

The chief of USC's Department of Public Safety told demonstrators who have been at the campus’ Alumni Park they face criminal trespass charges if they do not leave.

“This is private property,” Chief Lauretta Hill warned demonstrators after protests over the Gaza war that USC said devolved into acts of vandalism and confrontations.

“You have 10 minutes to leave the park,” Hill said, using a megaphone. She said those who refused to leave would be subject to criminal trespass.

Harvard ‘monitoring’ encampment on Harvard Yard

Harvard is monitoring a pro-Palestinian encampment that was set up in the center of campus, a university spokesperson said today.

“We are closely monitoring the situation and are prioritizing the safety and security of the campus community,” spokesperson Jason Newton said in a statement.

Video posted to social media showed a large group of people waving Palestinian flags, setting up tents and chanting pro-Palestinian messages on Harvard Yard, a grassy area that constitutes the school’s historic center .

‘I just can’t stop thinking about the kids in Gaza,’ UT protester and mom says

UT Austin graduate Meg Halpin was at today’s demonstration for a reason that was personal in a way, even though the war in Gaza is half a world away.

“I just can’t stop thinking about the kids in Gaza. I’m a mom, too,” Halpin told NBC News. “So thinking about what those families have been going through."

Halpin said she is proud of the students for demonstrating.

“I think it’s really beautiful to see students showing up just to take a stand for those people and against what’s happening to those families in Gaza,” she said.

More than 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to health authorities there, since Israel launched its war against Hamas in response to Hamas terrorist attacks that killed more than 1,300 in Israel in October.

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights yesterday cited authorities in Gaza as saying 14,685 of those killed have been children.

Biden meets Abigail Edan, 4-year-old American held hostage by Hamas

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Biden met Wednesday with Abigail Edan, the 4-year-old American girl who was held hostage in Gaza for several weeks at the start of the war.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan said the White House meeting with Abigail and her family was “a reminder of the work still to do” to win the release of dozens of people Hamas took captive in its Oct. 7 attack on Israel and are still believed to be in captivity in Gaza.

Abigail, who has dual Israeli-U.S. citizenship, was taken hostage after her parents were killed in the attack, and she was released nearly seven weeks later. She was the first U.S. hostage freed by Hamas as part of a deal with Israel to exchange hostages for Palestinian prisoners early in the war. Abigail turned 4 in captivity.

“It was also a reminder in getting to see her that there are still Americans and others being held hostage by Hamas,” said Sullivan, who attended Biden’s meeting with the Abigail and her family. “And we’re working day in, day out to ensure all of them also are able to get safely home to their loved ones.”

Hamas today released a recorded video of an Israeli American it still holds . Sullivan said U.S. law enforcement officials are assessing the video but declined to comment further.

'You can't escape it,' Jewish student at UT Austin says of protests

Two freshmen expressing support today for Israel at UT Austin, where 20 people were arrested in pro-Palestinian protests, said they support how the university and police are responding.

“If I went to school in New York, the school would be online; I wouldn’t even be getting an education,” Bradley Bleiman, who is from Chicago and Jewish, told NBC affiliate KXAN of Austin .

Bleiman and Josh Roth, who is from New York and is also Jewish, said it has been uncomfortable at times on the campus of around 51,000 as passions have been inflamed by the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in Israel and Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of people there, according to Gaza health officials.

Bleiman said his fraternity was vandalized in the fall. “It’s been hard, right? It’s uncomfortable,” he told the station.

“I was literally on my way to my math exam, and I heard 'Free Palestine' as I’m walking to my test, trying to be prepared for math and everything,” Roth said.

“It’s like you can’t escape it, even if you don’t want to be a part of this. Even if you want to stay on the sidelines, you can’t escape it,” Roth said. “It’s horrible, and I really wish it wasn’t happening at UT.”

Columbia board of trustees 'strongly supports' president amid criticisms

Madison Lambert

The Columbia University Board of Trustees today publicly backed President Nemat "Minouche" Shafik after House Speaker Mike Johnson called on her to resign if she can't tamp down Gaza war protests on campus.

In a statement, the board said it "strongly supports" Shafik "as she steers the university through this extraordinarily challenging time." Shafik and top university officials met with Johnson, R-La., and several of his Republican colleagues earlier.

"During the search process for this role, President Shafik told us that she would always take a thoughtful approach to resolving conflict, balancing the disparate voices that make up a vibrant campus like Columbia’s, while taking a firm stance against hatred, harassment and discrimination," the board wrote. "That’s exactly what she’s doing now."

Speaking on the steps of Columbia’s Low Library today, Johnson called on Shafik to "bring order to this chaos” as students and protesters continue to maintain a pro-Palestinian encampment at the school.

The board said it is working with Shafik to resolve the situation and "rebuild the bonds of our community," and it encouraged other to join those efforts.

What is in the Israel funding bill that Biden signed

The $26 billion aid bill to Israel that was passed by the Senate last night and signed by President Joe Biden today has been the subject of protests by those who oppose U.S. military support for Israel in its war in Gaza.

The bill includes billions in weapons, as well as some humanitarian assistance.

It provides:

• $5.2 billion to restock Israel’s missile and rocket defense systems the Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Iron Beam — $4 billion is for Iron Dome and David’s Sling, and $1.2 billion is for Iron Beam.
• $4.4 billion to resupply the Defense Department for military equipment and other assistance sent to Israel.
• $3.5 billion available for weapons systems and defense services for Israel through the Foreign Military Financing Program.
• A little more than $9 billion for humanitarian assistance.

The bill includes provisions to report whether any assistance to Gaza was diverted by Hamas.

The bill passed with a large bipartisan majority in the Senate, 79-18. It also includes military funding for Ukraine and Taiwan.

Photos: Protesters clash with police at USC

Elise Wrabetz

University of Southern California public safety officers detained pro-Palestinian demonstrators during clashes after officers tried to take down an encampment at the university in Los Angeles in support of Gaza today.

Speaker Mike Johnson defends rhetoric about Columbia criticism

Stephanie Gosk

In an interview after his remarks at Columbia, House Speaker Johnson defended his comments that Jewish students are running for their lives on campus.

"They canceled classes out of fear of physical violence with these students," Johnson told NBC News after he was asked why that level of rhetoric was being used.

Many Jewish students talked about being afraid but did not describe running for safety.

Johnson went on to criticize the president of Columbia and other Ivy League schools, saying student protesters should be arrested after a certain point.

"These administrators can’t control their campus. The first responsibility of a university administrator is to keep their students safe," he said.

Asked about arresting students, Johnson said: "If you don’t get control of it, yes, they should be arrested."

USC closes campus gates because of demonstration

Antonio Planas

The gates at the University of Southern California are closed because of a demonstration and anyone affiliated with the university must show identification to attend classes or other business on campus, school officials said this afternoon.

Students were urged to "avoid the center of campus unless you have a class," the university said in a statement.

The protest outside Doheny Memorial Library and in the center of academic buildings have been attended by many people who are not associated with USC, according to a letter to the USC community from Andrew T. Guzman, the university's provost and senior vice president for academic affairs.

Demonstrators were "repeatedly asked by security personnel to remove their tents and other prohibited items as well as relocate to a compliant location. In each case, protesters refused," Guzman said. "Their actions have escalated to the point of confrontation and have threatened the safety of our officers and campus community."

The move to close the gates was made to restrict the growth of the protest and to keep the campus calm, Guzman said.

The university has policies on time limits, places to protest and how demonstrators protest. The policies include prohibiting erecting tents and other encampments, use of loudspeakers, signs on poles or stakes and the disruption of classes or other "essential functions of the university," Guzman said.

The university rejects hate speech and embraces the values of freedom of expression, Guzman said, but its highest priority is "to protect the safety of our community and ensure our academic programs and university activities continue unabated."

More than 20 arrests made at UT Austin

Rebecca Cohen

Juliette Arcodia

Law enforcement have arrested more than 20 people on the University of Texas at Austin campus, the state Public Safety Department said in a statement.

The statement said the Public Safety Department was called to campus today at the request of the university and Gov. Greg Abbott “in order to prevent any unlawful assembly and to support UT Police in maintaining the peace by arresting anyone engaging in any sort of criminal activity, including criminal trespass.”

Abbott, in reply to a video on X of pro-Palestinian protests at UT Austin, said arrests were being made "right now" and "will continue until the crowd disperses.

"These protesters belong in jail," Abbott wrote on X. He added: "Students joining in hate-filled, antisemitic protests at any public college or university in Texas should be expelled."

Columbia asserts they will not call in National Guard

Reports that Columbia University was calling in the National Guard to help maintain order are "baseless," the school's vice president of communications said.

"I also want to make a point about an assertion that's been made, a rumor that is baseless, about the university threatening to bring in the National Guard," Ben Chang said at a briefing today. "Let me be clear, that is untrue and an unsubstantiated claim."

Referring to statement sent out by the university last night, Chang said there was no mention of either New York police or the National Guard and pointed listeners to "the words of the statement as to what our focus is on."

“Our focus, our goal, is to restore order, and if we can get there through dialogue, we will," Chang said.

Columbia's president met with Speaker Johnson before remarks

Columbia President Minouche Shafik met with House Speaker Mike Johnson ahead of his remarks at the university this afternoon, Ben Chang, Columbia's vice president of communications, said at a briefing today.

When Johnson's visit to the university was announced, Chang said Shafik offered to meet with Johnson, R-La., and his House colleagues, which she did before their joint remarks.

"The president shares the representatives' focus on and commitment to the safety and security of all members of the campus community, and she appreciates help from all of those who offer it," Chang said.

Speaking outside the Low Library, Johnson and his colleagues called for Shafik to resign "if she cannot immediately bring order to this chaos.”

Harvard students start encampment, joining a slew of other American universities

Christopher Cicchiello

Harvard University has joined the growing list of American universities holding solidarity encampment protests.

Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine, a group that describes itself on Instagram as a "coalition of Harvard students fighting for divestment and a #FreePalestine," posted today that it established a "liberated zone" on campus, joining a slew of other campuses across the country.

"Following the lead of our brave comrades on campuses across the country, this Liberated Zone is a demonstration of our love of justice, our hope for a free Palestine, and our dream of a liberated future for all," it said on Instagram. "We see our institution's complicity as one link among many that must be severed on the path to liberation."

The group is demanding that Harvard disclose any and all investments in "Israel, the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and the occupation of Palestine," as well as that it "divest from all such investment" and reinvest those resources into "Palestinian academic initiatives, communities, and culture."

It is also demanding Harvard drop charges against students for "organizing and activism, and commit to ending the weaponization of disciplinary policy."

The encampment was set up in Harvard Yard, according to the student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson . Harvard Yard was to be closed until Friday in anticipation of possible protests.

UT Austin says it 'does not tolerate' campus disruptions amid police presence during pro-Palestinian protests

The University of Texas at Austin "does not tolerate disruptions of campus activities or operations like we have seen at other campuses," a spokesperson for the university's Division of Student Affairs said in a statement, referring to a number of pro-Palestinian encampments and protests that have popped up at schools across the country.

"This is an important time in our semester with students finishing classes and studying for finals and we will act first and foremost to allow those critical functions to proceed without interruption," the UT statement said.

The spokesperson shared a PDF of a letter sent to the Palestine Solidarity Committee last night, which says the university is "steadfast in our support of free speech" but asked the group to cancel the event because it "declared intent to violate our policies and rules, and disrupt our campus operations."

“Simply put, The University of Texas at Austin will not allow this campus to be ‘taken’ and protesters to derail our mission in ways that groups affiliated with your national organization have accomplished elsewhere,” the letter said.

It warned that an attempt to hold the event would subject participating members to discipline, including suspension, that those who are not affiliated with the school would be asked to leave, and that refusing to do so could result in arrest.

"Our campus has a long history of peaceful student protests and free speech and expression," the letter said. It invited the group to host an event "that adheres to our University policies and rules."

"However, whether you reach out for such assistance or not, you are responsible for understanding the University’s expectations for students and their organizations," the letter said. "Failing to comply with this notice will subject you to student discipline. You, your organization, and its members will not receive an additional warning."

Speaker Mike Johnson calls for resignation of Columbia president

In remarks outside of the Low Library at Columbia University, Speaker Mike Johnson and his colleagues from the House called for university President Nemat “Minouche” Shafik to resign over her handling of the dayslong protests at the Ivy League school and her inability to protect Jewish students on campus.

Johnson, R-La., said he is “calling on President Shafik to resign if she cannot immediately bring order to this chaos.”

The announcement came moments after Johnson and fellow members of Congress met with Jewish students at Columbia, who recalled recent "heinous acts of bigotry" and instances of antisemitism on campus, the lawmakers said.

When Johnson took the podium outside the library, he was met with a chorus of boos from protesters gathered nearby. Throughout his speech, the protesters chanted, "We can't hear you," among other sentiments, to continually disrupt his remarks.

Johnson acknowledged the inalienable rights students in America have, but he called out the need to keep all students safe and said, "Those who are perpetrating this violence should be arrested."

He said Congress "will not be silent" as Jewish students are "expected to run for their lives" and forced to stay home from class and attend virtually to ensure their safety.

Asked what he has to say to the students in the encampment at Columbia, Johnson said, "Go back to class and stop the madness," adding that they "can't intimidate fellow students and make them stay home from class."

Earlier today, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she didn't see the benefit of Johnson's visit to Columbia.

"I think politicizing this and bringing the entourage to put a spotlight on this is only adding to the division,” Hochul said. "A speaker worth the title should really be trying to heal people and not divide them, so I don’t think it adds to anything."

Indian traditional dances performed inside Columbia encampment

Sakshi Venkatraman

South Asian students in Columbia University's encampment are using traditional dance from the subcontinent to show solidarity with the protesters. Viral videos show Punjabi students performing bhangra in the middle of the tents, which have been set up at the campus for days, even following controversial mass arrests .

Columbia's renowned bhangra team has a 20-year history on campus. Other students at the protest performed bharatnatyam, a dance style native to South India.

The video went viral, reached Indian Americans across the country.

"This made me cry," a comment said. "My grandmother lived through the British occupation of India. She was classically trained in bharatnatyam dance and Carnatic music."

Campus police raiding USC encampment protest

Marlene Lenthang

Police responded to the encampment protest and were seen taking down tents at the University of Southern California this afternoon — hours after student activists started their demonstration in solidarity with the Palestinian cause.

Video shared by the activist group People’s City Council — Los Angeles showed USC Public Safety officers dismantling a tent on the Los Angeles campus. 

Other video shared by a local ABC affiliate reporter showed a group of police officers pushing back protesters and one officer running after a protester and pinning him against a tree, as demonstrators clamored, “Let go of him!”

The USC Department of Public Safety issued an alert saying, “There is significant activity at the center of the UPC campus due to a demonstration.”

Netanyahu denounces U.S. college protests

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the college protests taking place across the U.S., saying in a speech today: “What’s happening in America’s college campuses is horrific.”

Netanyahu described the pro-Palestinian encampments and protests expressing solidarity with the plight of the people in Gaza as “antisemitic mobs” taking over “leading universities.”

“It has to be condemned and condemned unequivocally. But that’s not what happened. The response of several university presidents was shameful,” Netanyahu said. 

Many of the protests on campuses have been peaceful, though there have been reports of unruly behavior by outside parties on the periphery of such demonstrations. 

Some Jewish students who joined protests at elite universities expressing solidarity with the Palestinian cause say their own stories of being Jewish anti-Zionists are being ignored.

Police respond to protest on UT Austin campus

Police are responding to a divestment rally in solidarity with Palestinians unfolding at the University of Texas at Austin campus this afternoon, school police said.

Several students have been arrested , NBC affiliate KXAN of Austin reported.

The school paper, The Daily Texan , wrote on X that state troopers were trying to block protesters from moving north with batons, and it reported that at least two people had been arrested, one of them related to the university. 

Uniformed troopers, some with horses, marched through the demonstration area as hordes of students and protesters chanted, “Off our campus!”

The Palestine Solidarity Committee of Austin shared a photo of dozens of troopers dressed in riot gear with vests, shin guards and helmets and holding batons standing on the Speedway Mall of campus.

About 200 students who had gathered for the afternoon rally were immediately met with heavy police and trooper presence that dispersed the crowds, KXAN reported.

Columbia University vows not to call NYPD, National Guard on protesters, student group says

Columbia University 's chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine says the university has issued a “written commitment and concession not to call the NYPD or the National Guard” on protesters — a move hailed as “an important victory for students.”

The group said that the administration had previously warned of law enforcement sweeps and “threatened violence” against pupils, causing negotiations to fail and prompting “thousands of peaceful students” to flood the lawns “in support of their peers” last night. 

“Student protesters on Columbia’s campus — the majority of whom are Palestinian, Black, brown, and Jewish students from marginalized backgrounds — stood by each other for hours last night, awaiting the outcome of Columbia’s disturbing threat of military or police violence,” the group said. Columbia extended its deadline for students to vacate the lawn multiple times last night.

“We fear that Columbia is risking a second Jackson State or Kent State massacre, referring to two instances in which universities called the National Guard on student protesters to have them violently beaten and killed,” the group said. 

Rudy Giuliani heckled at Columbia University protest

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani stopped near a Columbia University protest yesterday, where he spoke to some people through his car window, and was heckled.

Giuliani, who served as part of Donald Trump's legal team when he was in office, remained in a black SUV, donning an American-flag themed shirt.

"Lock him up! Lock him up!" a heckler was heard yelling. "Rudy Giuliani! Go to jail! New York hates you! The Yankees hate you!"

Jewish peace activist calls for 'exodus from Zionism'

Alicia Victoria Lozano

Peace and environmental activist Naomi Klein, who is Jewish, joined hundreds of antiwar demonstrators outside New York Sen. Chuck Schumer's home Tuesday night for an "emergency" Seder.

Addressing the crowd, Klein said Zionism has become a "false idol" and said calling for an end to the war in Gaza is not antisemitic. Read the full text of her speech here .

Here's an excerpt:

"Our Judaism cannot be contained by an ethnostate, for our Judaism is internationalist by nature.

Our Judaism cannot be protected by the rampaging military of that state, for all that military does is sow sorrow and reap hatred — including against us as Jews.

Our Judaism is not threatened by people raising their voices in solidarity with Palestine across lines of race, ethnicity, physical ability, gender identity and generations.

Our Judaism is one of those voices and knows that in that chorus lies both our safety and our collective liberation."

House Speaker will call for Columbia University's president to resign

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R- La., said he’ll call for Columbia University’s President Minouche Shafik to resign when he visits campus today. 

“This president, Shafik, has shown to be a very weak, inept leader. They cannot even guarantee the safety of Jewish students? They’re expected to run for their lives and stay home from class? It’s just, it’s maddening. What we’re seeing on these college campuses across the country is disgusting and unacceptable,” Johnson said in a morning interview with conservative political commentator and radio host Hugh Hewitt.

Columbia's campus has seen encampment protests since last week and controversial mass arrests.

Johnson is set to meet with Jewish students a 3 p.m. and hold a news conference at 3:45 p.m. today.

University of Southern California launches encampment protest

The University of Southern California in Los Angeles was the latest school to start a solidarity encampment protest today. 

A statement shared online from the USC Divest from Death Coalition, comprising students, faculty and Los Angeles community members, said “Our choice of ‘occupation’ draws attention to the complicity of USC in the Israeli occupation, USC’s displacement of the South Central community, and USC being an occupying force on the unneeded land of the Tongva people.”

The group said it was joining the nationwide call by students for universities to disclose their finances, "divest from Israeli violence" and "defend Palestinians."

NYU assistant professor describes 'violent' arrests at student protest

Dr. Chenjerai Kumanyika, an assistant professor of journalism at NYU, said he and other faculty members went to support students protesting in support of Palestinians yesterday when ranks of “intimidating” helmeted police officers closed in and arrested them. 

”I can’t even count how many police. Then they arrested faculty and they violently arrest students, and sort of destroyed this academy that the students had set up. Took all of us down to One Police Plaza, the NYPD headquarters, and everyone was charged with trespass,” he said. 

Kumanyika said students were grabbed, handcuffed with zip ties and officers were seen throwing chairs. 

“All of this is being done under the justification that it is somehow protecting the NYU community. But I think what’s actually going on is that this university wants to avoid the call for divestment, the call for transparency about its investments in Israel. Just the idea that this is about safety is kind of ridiculous, given what I experienced last night,” he said. 

He rebuffed the university’s claims of “disorderly, disruptive, and antagonizing behavior” that “interfered with the safety and security of our community.”

“In the spirit of solidarity between Jews and Muslims, they held a Seder at the protest. And there, what the university did was break that up, and somehow call that fighting antisemitism,” Kumanyika said.

Biden signs $95B foreign aid package, includes $26B to Israel and $1B to support Gaza 

President Joe Biden signed a $95 billion foreign aid package today that includes $26 billion in assistance to Israel and humanitarian relief in Gaza.

Gaza will receive $1 billion in aid that includes funds for food, medical supplies and water.

"This bill significantly, significantly increases humanitarian assistance we’re sending to the innocent people of Gaza who are suffering badly, they are suffering the consequences of this war that Hamas started and we’ve been working intently for months to get as much aid to Gaza as possible," Biden told reporters.

"Israel must make sure all this aid reaches the Palestinians in Gaza without delay," he said.

Nigel Chiwaya

Pro-Palestinian protests continue at UC Berkeley as students call for an end to Israeli ties and arms investments

Patrick Smith

Student protesters at the University of California's Berkeley campus joined students across the country yesterday in demanding their school cut all ties with Israeli institutions.

The Berkeley protesters have camped out for the last two days in opposition to the war in Gaza."I guess I'm not super surprised. I mean, it is Berkeley, things like this are happening all the time. The only thing that's surprising me is, it's this late in the semester," UC Berkeley student Any Bass told KNTV, NBC News' affiliate in the Bay Area.

"$2 billion of our tuition money goes to funding contacts with arms and weapons manufacturers, like Boeing, BlackRock, Lockheed Martin and many more," another student, Malak Agenah, said.

The university, however, was unmoved. "We're heard what their demands are and there are no plans to change our investment strategies, policies or practices," spokesperson Dan Mogulof told KNTV.

Students at Brown University start solidarity encampment

An encampment protest started this morning at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, with about 90 students seen joining shortly after 6 a.m., the school said. 

A university spokesperson said that encampment on the university’s “historic and residential greens is a violation of University policy.” Students participating were informed they’d face conduct proceedings, the school added. 

“We have been troubled by reports of violence, harassment and intimidation at some encampments on other campuses, but we have not seen that kind of behavior at Brown. Any such behavior would not be tolerated,” the university said, noting it is monitoring the situation.

An Instagram post by the  Brown Divest Coalition said the protest demands that Brown divest its endowment from “all companies enabling and profiting from the genocide in Gaza and the broader Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.”

Columbia students commit to remove tents, as professor criticizes protests

Erin McLaughlin

A spokesperson for Columbia University says students have committed to dismantling and removing a significant number of tents amid nationwide protests. 

The news came as some university staff, including journalism professor Hagar Chemali, criticized the protests.

"At the end of the day, we can't be enabling hate or incitement to violence, or disruption to the students." she told NBC's "TODAY" show this morning.

Scenes from Columbia University campus overnight

Max Butterworth

Pro-Palestinian supporters rally inside Columbia University in New York City last night. Students are seen moving a tent inside the campus as demonstrations continue into the night.

Police arrest 9 at University of Minnesota pro-Palestinian protests

Nine people were arrested at the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus yesterday, the institution said this morning. 

Some students had set up an encampment on the north end of Northrop Mall and were warned by police early yesterday to disperse or be arrested. Some chose to disperse while others chose to remain and peacefully protest before they were arrested and later released. 

"It’s important to note that the U of M supports and respects free speech through lawful protest. As a public research university, demonstrations where groups express diverse views and opinions occur regularly on our campus," a school spokesperson said. "We support the rights of all members of our University community to speak and demonstrate peacefully."

Over 200 arrested at pro-Palestinian rally near home of Chuck Schumer

At least 209 people were arrested last night after pro-Palestinian Jewish groups held a rally at Grand Army Plaza in New York, near the home of Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y, the NYPD told NBC New York.

The protests came after the Senate overwhelmingly passed a $26 billion package that included new assistance to Israel and humanitarian relief for Gaza.

University rallies and walkouts planned across the U.S. today

Elizabeth Maline

Universities across the country will stage their own protests today to decry the war in the Middle East and express solidarity with Gaza.

Encampment protests went late into the night at New York University and Columbia University last evening. 

Today in Texas, Rice University in Houston will hold a Gaza protest starting at 10 a.m. local time (11 a.m. ET); meanwhile the University of Texas at Austin will see students walk out of class for a divestment rally just before noon.

In the Midwest, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has a walkout slated for 12 p.m. local time (1 p.m. ET) to demand acknowledgment of the killings of Palestinians because of Israeli occupation and to call for divestment from Israel.

The University of Michigan saw students set up an encampment protest Monday by a coalition of pro-Palestinian student organizations. A rally is scheduled on campus, as well, at 3 p.m. to support the encampment. 

FBI coordinates with campuses over wave of protests

Ken Dilanian

The FBI is coordinating with college campuses to make them aware of antisemitic threats and possible violence in connection with the ongoing wave of protests   over the Israel-Hamas war,   FBI Director Christopher Wray told NBC News’ Lester Holt in an exclusive interview last night.

He said the FBI is “keenly focused on working with state and local law enforcement, campus law enforcement and others to try to make sure that we stay ahead” of any threats of violence.

Wray said the FBI doesn’t monitor protests, “but we do share intelligence about specific threats of violence with campuses, with state and local law enforcement.”

Read more here

Senate passes $26 billion aid for for Israel, Gaza

Sahil Kapur

Frank Thorp V producer and off-air reporter

The Senate yesterday overwhelmingly passed an aid package that includes $26 billion in assistance to Israel and humanitarian relief in Gaza.

The package, approved by a 79-18 vote, also includes aid for Ukraine and Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific.

Protesters gathered near Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s Brooklyn home yesterday, opposed to U.S. military assistance to Israel in the war in Gaza, which has killed thousands of civilians.

The total amount of the package to the three areas is $95 billion, and it includes a provision that could lead to a nationwide  ban on TikTok .

President Joe Biden said he will swiftly sign the package into law.

A look into college campuses’ long history of serving as a cultural movement platform

Valerie Castro

Valerie Castro breaks down the decadeslong history of college campuses serving as platforms for cultural movements as more groups from universities across the nation have joined in on the pro-Palestinian movement.

Protests to go on after student protesters agreed to remove 'a significant number of tents'

Columbia University has said it will continue conversations with pro-Palestinian protest leaders for the next 48 hours, without forcing the encampment to be removed.

Student groups had been circulating messages that a new deadline to disperse had been set for 8 a.m. ET. But the college said there was no deadline and instead talks continue and some concessions had been agreed.

"We are making important progress with representatives of the student encampment on the West lawn," a college spokesperson said. The statement also confirmed that:

• Student protesters have agreed to remove "a significant number of tents.
• Protest leaders will ensure only students enrolled at Columbia will be taking part.
• The encampment will comply with New York City Fire Department rules.
• And that protesters will "make the encampment welcome to all and have prohibited discriminatory or harassing language."

Columbia previously said it had set a deadline of midnight for dismantling the encampment, dispersing and following university policies going forward.

• International

April 24, 2024 - US university protests

By Adrienne Vogt, Christina Zdanowicz, Elise Hammond, Samantha Delouya, Chandelis Duster, Tori B. Powell, Emma Tucker, Elizabeth Wolfe and Kathleen Magramo, CNN

Our live coverage of the protests has moved here

Nearly 100 people arrested at USC, police say

From CNN's Elizabeth Wolfe and Josh Campbell

The Los Angeles Police Department said 93 people were arrested on suspicion of trespassing during Wednesday's demonstrations at the University of Southern California.

"The university is a private campus and the group had been violating some of their orders. It was a trespass at that point and we assisted with the arrests," Los Angeles Police Captain Kelly Muniz said during a briefing .

One person was also arrested for assault with a deadly weapon, Muniz said. She did not provide further details.

No protesters or officers have been reported injured, police said.

Some context: USC's Department of Public Safety ordered protesters gathering at the campus' Alumni Park Wednesday afternoon to disperse or face arrest for trespassing.

At one point during the demonstrations, tensions escalated as protesters refused to relocate and remove their tents and other prohibited items, a university official said.

The university closed its campus Wednesday evening as LAPD began arresting demonstrators.

Negotiations at Columbia University unstable, organizers say

From CNN's Kathleen Magramo

Negotiations between protesters and Columbia University officials about clearing the encampment on its lawn that had been extended for 48 hours have been “unstable," said Esha Karam, managing director of Columbia Daily Spectator, citing student organizers.

"We're about halfway through that extended deadline of 48 hours and we heard from organizers on the student front earlier today in a press conference who told us that the negotiations are ongoing so unstable at the moment," Karam told CNN.

There's still around another 24 hours to go until the extended deadline "but really after that, we don't really know where things are going,” Karam added.

House Speaker Mike Johnson called Wednesday for the resignation of the university’s president if she can't "bring order to this chaos."

Student reactions to calls for the college president's resignation have been mixed, Karam said. 

She said there are “some who are willing to see her continue to lead and continue to work with her.” 

Cal Poly Humboldt campus to remain closed through weekend as protesters occupy buildings 

From CNN’s Cindy Von Quednow

The California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt campus will remain closed through the weekend as protesters, including "unidentified non-students," continue to occupy two buildings, school officials said in an  update .

Work and classes will remain remote, and officials are considering keeping the campus closed for longer.

“There are unidentified non-students with unknown intentions, in Siemens Hall,” the officials said. “This creates an unpredictable environment. In addition, all entrances to the building are barricaded, creating a fire hazard. Adding to health and safety concerns, many toilets are no longer working.”

Other buildings on the campus in Arcata are at risk of being occupied, and protesters “have shown a willingness” to lock themselves in facilities and steal equipment, the officials said.

“Campus officials are communicating with protestors and continuing to encourage them to leave as soon as possible.”

Graffiti described as “hateful” has been painted on campus, the officials said.

“The University condemns in the strongest terms all forms of hatred, bigotry, and violence. Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, hatred, and bigotry in all forms have no place at Cal Poly Humboldt.”

The university "supports free speech through open dialogue that is respectful and constructive," the officials said.

"That does not include behavior that involves destroying and damaging property, and disrupting students, faculty, and staff from learning, teaching, and working. Everyone deserves to be in an environment where everyone can feel safe, included, and respected.”

Fox 7 photographer among those arrested at University of Texas at Austin

From CNN’s Joe Sutton

A photographer was among those arrested during clashes between protesters and law enforcement on the University of Texas at Austin campus on Wednesday. 

Fox 7 reported that their photographer was detained and arrested. The station did not identify the employee. 

In an evening  update , the Texas Department of Public Safety said that 34 arrests had been made by law enforcement on the campus as of 9 p.m. 

CNN has contacted Texas DPS, UT Austin Police, and UT Austin for information on this arrest.

Columbia University Board of Trustees voices support for embattled president

From CNN's Rob Frehse

The Columbia University Board of Trustees released a statement Wednesday saying they strongly support President Minouche Shafik, who has faced calls for her resignation amid intense pressure to rein in days-long protests.

“The Columbia University Board of Trustees strongly supports President Shafik as she steers the university through this extraordinarily challenging time,” the board said in a  statement Wednesday . “During the search process for this role, President Shafik told us that she would always take a thoughtful approach to resolving conflict, balancing the disparate voices that make up a vibrant campus like Columbia’s, while taking a firm stance against hatred, harassment and discrimination.” “That's exactly what she's doing now,” the trustees added.

 The board said it is "urgently working" with Shafik to resolve the unrest on campus and "rebuild the bonds of our community."

UT Austin Police give "all clear" for dispersal order as authorities arrest more than 30 protesters

The University of Texas at Austin Police Department said in a statement on X Wednesday evening that "the dispersal order at the South Mall has ended. All University rules are still in effect."

As of 9 p.m. CT, 34 arrests have been made by law enforcement on the UT Austin campus, according to an X post from the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Muslim Public Affairs Council condemns calls for National Guard to be deployed against protesters 

Amid arrests of pro-Palestine protesters across universities, the Muslim Public Affairs Council condemned calls for the deployment of the National Guard , saying the “crackdown on students with an overwhelming militaristic force has set a dangerous precedent for university administrations nationwide.” 

“The Muslim Public Affairs Council calls on the people of conscience, including faculty and leaders, to oppose threats to deploy the National Guard on the Gaza Solidarity Encampment at Columbia University, whose aim is to push back against the university’s continued financial investment in corporations that profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide, and occupation in Palestine,” the council said in a statement Wednesday.  

MPAC urged for a reevaluation of strategies used to handle protests on campuses across the country and says it advocates for “approaches that emphasize de-escalation and address students’ concerns through constructive means rather than force and intimidation.” 

In a previous statement on Tuesday , MPAC accused the White House of having double standards for issuing a response condemning violence and physical intimidation against Jewish students at Columbia University, but says the administration “consistently fails to extend the same sentiments to students who face repeated violence, intimidation, doxing, and harassment for their pro-Palestinian advocacy.” 

LAPD arrest about 50 protesters at USC

From CNN's Stephanie Becker and Nick Watt

The Los Angeles Police Department arrested approximately 50 protestors at the University of Southern California after campus police gave a dispersal order to demonstrators, according to a CNN crew at the scene.

Campus police announced earlier that anyone who stayed in the area would be subject to criminal trespass laws.

Video from the scene showed protestors not resisting arrest as LAPD handcuffed them with zip ties and escorted them away from the ongoing protest.

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Wildcats to have top transfer portal target on campus for a visit this weekend

Mark Pope needs to land this talented guard.

• Author: Andrew Stefaniak

In this story:

The Kentucky Wildcats are still looking to land players in the transfer portal as Mark Pope looks to fill his first roster. 

Things are starting to move in the right direction as Coach Pope is starting to bring players in for visits. 

One player who has set up a visit to Lexington is former Saint Mary's star guard Aidan Mahaney. The 6'3 guard led the Gales in scoring last season and will be in Lexington for a visit this weekend. 

On the season for the Gales of the WCC, Mahaney averaged 13.9 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game while shooting 38.6% from the field and 35.5% from three. 

Mahaney is a really good shooter who can shoot better than 35.5% from deep in Coach Pope's offense. The importance of Mahaney scheduling a visit to Lexingotn can not be undervalued. Setting up a visit means that there is real smoke behind the talented guard making the move to Lexington. 

Step one is getting a player on campus for a visit, and Coach Pope has done that. The next step will be to sell him a vision when he is on campus this weekend. We will learn about how good of a recruiter Coach Pope is by how many players he lands that he gets on campus for a visit. 

It sounds like the Wildcats have a really good shot to land Mahaney, so this is a name that Big Blue Nation needs to remember as Coach Pope works on finalizing the 2024-25 roster. 

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