Amidst the war in Gaza and Israel, Pro-Palestinian protests have been sweeping U.S. college campuses and causing all kinds of chaos; multiple colleges had to have events such as classes, sports games, and even graduation ceremonies canceled. There have been numerous arrests made on two dozen campuses throughout the U.S. alone.

These protests started at Columbia University with just 70 students, but quickly gained momentum as bystanders joined in response to arrests being made, and have since spread throughout the U.S.. Columbia’s president Minouche Shafik asked police to clear the protest site that followed with her testimony to Congress about the antisemitism on campuses.

These protests led the University of Southern California to first cancel the valedictorian speech before completely canceling the ceremony. This has resulted in many complaints from students who were not involved in the protests and think it is unfair.

Hamilton Hall, a historic part of Columbia’s campus was infiltrated in one of these protests, leaving windows smashed and historic markings ruined; the protesters seemed adamant to stay on the property. They set up tents and small kitchen units to prove that they were here to stay, but it didn’t last long as soon as the police were able to get in and take everyone out of the building, some having to be forced out or arrested.

This activity hasn’t stopped in light of recent events and has just gotten larger in scale. Not all of these protests are particularly harmful, and there are a lot of peaceful protests that haven’t broken out in complete chaos. Students are hoping that with time, protesters will slowly back down from these havoc-wreaking protests and slowly move off of the campus.