Columbia Students Return To A Campus Still Closed To The Public

MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS, NY — As Columbia University students return to school on Sept. 8, they will be greeted by protesters demanding that the university reopen its gates to the public.

It's not the first time. This school year is the third since the university changed its open-gate policy following protests in 2024 that shook the campus.

The protests, which criticized Israel's actions in Gaza, included encampments and an occupation of Hamilton Hall led by both students and people unaffiliated with Columbia, the school says. The fallout from these protests led to a series of curriculum reforms and campus safety protocols after pressure from the Trump administration.

The gates were closed as a stopgap measure to quell the campus unrest, but three years later, it's looking more like the new normal.

The Morningside Heights Community Coalition, which is leading the charge against the closed gates, says this will be its fifth demonstration over the issue.

The group is not advocating for the university to open its buildings to the public, but rather its grounds, which include College Walk, a pedestrian-only street through the center of campus along West 116th Street, from Broadway to Amsterdam Avenue.

Without access to that route, Columbia's campus effectively creates a barrier between 114th and 120th streets.

"For us, it's a moral issue because [College Walk] is a main thoroughfare in Morningside Heights, and it's not right for them to close it and inconvenience neighbors, especially those who are either senior citizens or mobility-challenged," Dan McSweeney, a Morningside Heights Community Coalition organizer, told Patch.

Currently, nearby residents who live roughly within 30 blocks of the campus can apply for a pass that is scanned along with an ID at certain gates, but the system doesn't include people who work in the area, McSweeney said.

According to a Columbia spokesperson, roughly 1,200 neighbors have access passes to the campus.

"We are focused on ensuring that all of our students feel welcome, safe, and secure on our campus as we also balance the desire for an open campus that is accessible to all of Columbia’s valued constituencies, including our neighbors," a spokesperson for the school previously told Patch.

The fight over Columbia's gates has also made its way into court. Toby Golick, a longtime neighbor and Barnard and Columbia Law School graduate, is suing the school over access to College Walk.

She argues in the suit that Columbia has a legal obligation to maintain College Walk as a public thoroughfare, based on an agreement made with the city when the street was pedestrianized in 1953.

"Columbia owns all of the acreage between 114th Street and 120th Street, but they didn't originally own 116th Street, which was a public street," Golick, who has lived in the neighborhood for more than 60 years, said.

When Columbia incorporated the street into its campus, Golick argued that there was an agreement to grant "perpetual pedestrian access."

However, Columbia's lawyers disagree. In a motion to dismiss the case, representatives of Columbia argue that no agreement for pedestrian access was ever made and that the school has the legal right to keep the campus gates shut.

Though Columbia couldn't comment about the pending litigation, a spokesperson said the school evaluates access on an ongoing basis, with input from its Campus Safety Advisory Committee, which includes students, faculty, and staff.

"If this continues for another year, you'll have an entire generation of undergraduate students who have only known a locked campus," McSweeney said. "That is just completely unacceptable for so many reasons."

For questions, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.