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Live updates: University unrest and protests disrupt Columbia, UCLA, campuses across the US

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Live updates: University unrest and protests disrupt Columbia, UCLA, campuses across the US

Pro-Palestinian protesters are confronted by police at the University of Texas in Austin on Monday. Jay Janner/American-Statesman/USA Today Network/Reuters

Attempts to shut down or disrupt campus operations “will not be tolerated,” University of Texas System Board of Regents Chairman Kevin P. Eltife said in a statement Tuesday.  

“There is no rationale whatsoever that justifies the endangerment of our students and campus environments,” Eltife said. “Massive crowds of students, along with outside groups with absolutely no connection to UT, have intentionally caused disturbances with plans to harm our campus community.” 

“While free speech is fundamental to our educational institutions, it is violated when it includes threats to campus safety and security or refusal to comply with institutional policies and law,” the statement continued. “At UT Austin, I have been working closely with President Hartzell on decisions to protect its entire campus community, and we will not acquiesce on those protections under any circumstance.”

Eltife thanked campus police as well as the Texas Department of Public Safety, and stressed that students who violate campus policies or those not affiliated with the campus who break the law “are fully prosecuted.” 

Of 79 people who were arrested on the University of Texas-Austin campus Monday, 45 were not affiliated with the campus, school officials told CNN. 

“Nothing is more important than the safety of our students, and we will not hesitate again to use all resources available to us to keep them safe and our UT campuses open,” Eltife said. 

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