>>> BEAUTIFUL, LIVE PICTURE OF LOWER MANHATTAN AT 6:45 ON A FRIDAY MORNING. MORE THAN 100 PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTERS WERE ARRESTED ON THE CAMPUS OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY YESTERDAY. IT CAME JUST ONE DAY AFTER THE SCHOOL'S PRESIDENT WAS QUESTIONED BY LAWMAKERS ON CAPITOL HILL ABOUT INCIDENTS OF ANTI-SEMITISM ON SCHOOL GROUNDS. NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT ANTONIA HYLTON REPORTS. >> Reporter: CONFRONTATION AT COLUMBIA. POLICE REMOVING PROTESTERS FROM CAMPUS. CITING EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES. COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT CALLED IN THE NYPD TO CLEAR AN ENCAMPMENT OF PRO-PALESTINIAN STUDENT DEMONSTRATORS. THE ENCAMPMENT SET UP WEDNESDAY MORNING, THE SAME DAY SHE TESTIFIED ON CAPITOL HILL ABOUT ANTI-SEMITISM ON CAMPUS. >> WE HAVE TO UPHOLD FREEDOM OF SPEECH, BUT WE CANNOT AND SHOULDN'T TOLERATE ABUSE OF THIS PRIVILEGE TO HARASS AND DISCRIMINATE. >> Reporter: IN A LETTER TO THE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY, SHE NOTED, PROTESTS HAVE A STORIED HISTORY AT COLUMBIA. ANTI-VIETNAM DEMONSTRATORS LOOK OVER BUILDINGS ON CAMPUS IN 1968. BUT IN ASKING FOR HELP FROM THE POLICE, SHE SAID, THE ENCAMPMENT AND RELATED DISRUPTIONS POSE A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER TO THE SUBSTANTIAL FUNCTIONING OF THE UNIVERSITY. >> WE ARE RISKING, LIKE, OUR ACADEMIC STANDING JUST TO, LIKE, SHOW THE ADMINISTRATORS THAT WE ARE NOT OKAY WITH THEIR DECISIONS. >> Reporter: SEVERAL DEMONSTRATORS TODAY STOMPING ON AN ISRAELI FLAG. SOME STUDENTS SAYING THEY FEEL UNSAFE ON CAMPUS. >> I FEEL AS THOUGH PEOPLE ARE KIND OF WEAPONIZING ANTI-SEMITISM. >> Reporter: DEMONSTRATORS TELLING US THEY PLAN TO KEEP THEIR PROTESTS GOING DESPITE THE POLICE PRESENCE. >> DO YOU FEEL LIKE THIS ADMINISTRATION HAS CLAMPED DOWN ON STUDENTS AND FACULTY MEMBERS' FREE SPEECH? >> 100%, YES. I BELIEVE THAT. >> Reporter: NEW YORK CITY'S MAYOR SAYING POLICE MADE 100 ARRESTS ON A CAMPUS SEVERELY DIVIDED. >> NBC'S ANTOIA HYLTON REPORTING FROM COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN NEW YORK. JOE, YESTERDAY, YOU SAW ANOTHER CASE, SEVERAL IN RECENT WEEKS, WHERE HEADS OF SCHOOL, CHAUNS CHANCELLORS, ADMINISTRATORS, HAVE SAID, THERE IS A LINE BETWEEN FREE SPEECH. WE'VE ALLOWED YOU TO PROTEST, GO TO CERTAIN PLACES. WE'VE OPENED DIALOGUE ON CAMPUS, GIVEN YOU A PLACE TO HAVE DEBATES. WHEN IT COMES TO HARASSMENT OF JEWISH STUDENTS, INTERRUPTING THE OPERATIONS OF A CLASS, A SPEAKER, PEOPLE MOVING THROUGH CAMPUS, YOU CAN'T DO THAT ANYMORE. >> EXACTLY. WHETHER YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE INTERRUPTION OF THE FUNCTIONING OF THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE OR THE NORMAL FUNCTIONING OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, YOU KNOW, IT'S TOO MUCH. IT'S TOO MUCH. YOU CAN HAVE FREE SPEECH WITHOUT, AGAIN, STOPPING THE NORMAL FUNCTIONING OF THESE INSTITUTIONS. IT'S REALLY UNFORTUNATE THAT YOU HAVE PEOPLE STEPPING FORWARD SAYING, "WELL, WE HAVE TO DO THIS BECAUSE ISRAEL IS SO TERRIBLE, THIS AND THAT, AND LOOK WHAT'S HAPPENING TO THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE." I DIDN'T SEE THESE PROTESTS WHEN 10,000, 30,000, 50,000, 100,000, 500,000 ARABS WERE KILLED IN SYRIA IN ASSAD'S CIVIL WAR. DID WE SEE THIS WHEN SADDAM HUSSEIN WAS KILLING A MILLION MUSLIMS? I DIDN'T SEE THE PROTESTS. SO, PROTESTS HAVE A TIME AND A PLACE, AND NOBODY SHOULD TRAMPLE ON FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS OF PEOPLE WHO WANT TO SUPPORT THE PALESTINIAN CAUSE OR WANT TO SUPPORT ISRAEL'S CAUSE, BUT THAT'S NOT THE WAY IT'S GOING ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES. RIGHT NOW, IT HAS BEEN OVERWHELMINGLY ONE SIDED, AND IT'S NOT JUST JEWISH STUDENTS WHO ARE FEELING THE PRESSURE. IT'S ALSO OTHER STUDENTS THAT ARE FEELING THE PRESSURE TO TAKE EXTREME POSITIONS, ANTI-ISRAEL POSITIONS. I'M GLAD THE PRESIDENT OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HAS STEPPED FORWARD. YOU KNOW, SOME PEOPLE MAY CALL ALLOWING STUDENTS TO TAKE OVER PRESIDENT'S OFFICES AT COLUMBIA IN THE 1960s A STORIED TRADITION. I DON'T. I CALL THAT ANARCHY. LIKE, IF YOU'RE PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY AND YOU'RE LETTING STUDENTS TAKE OVER YOUR OFFICE, MAYBE, MAYBE YOU SHOULD SEEK EMPLOYMENT ELSEWHERE, BECAUSE I GUARANTEE THERE ARE A LOT OF PARENTS THAT SEND THEIR CHILDREN TO SCHOOLS WHO DON'T WANT STUDENTS RUNNING THE PLACE. THEY'D LIKE GROWN-UPS TO RUN THE PLACE. IT LOOKS LIKE THAT'S WHAT'S HAPPENING IN COLUMBIA. >> I'LL SPEAK FOR -- YOU KNOW, I WENT TO VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY. THEY'VE HAD A LOT OF THIS ON THEIR CAMPUS IN RECENT WEEKS. A GROUP OF STUDENTS A COUPLE WEEKS AGO PUSHED THEIR WAY INTO KIRKLAND HALL, WHERE THE CHANCELLOR'S OFFICE IS. THEY PUSHED ASIDE AN UNARMED SECURITY GUARD, SAT THERE FOR 20 HOURS DOING EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, JOE. >> NO. >> THE CHANCELLOR SAID, YOU'RE ALL SUSPENDED, AND ONE BY ONE, REVIEWED THEIR CASES AND EXPELLED THREE OF THE STUDENTS. >> GOOD. >> SAID, "WE'VE GIVEN YOU A PLACE TO HAVE FREE SPEECH. WE'VE GIVEN YOU A PLACE TO PROTEST. WE'VE GIVEN YOU A SPACE TO VOICE YOUR OPINION. WE HAVE SYMPOSIUMS WHERE BOTH SIDES OF THIS DISCUSSION CAN BE HEARD. YOU DIDN'T PARTICIPATE IN THAT, BUT YOU BROKE INTO OUR OFFICE AND SAT HERE. THREE OF YOU ARE NO LONGER STUDENTS OF THIS UNIVERSITY." THAT WAS ONE OF THE FIRST SCHOOLS TO DO THAT, AND YOU'VE SEEN MORE SINCE THEN. JEREMY PETERS OF "THE NEW YORK TIMES" IS WRITING ABOUT THIS. HE HAS NEW REPORTING ON HOW THOSE ADMINISTRATORS ARE RESPONDING TO A SURGE IN ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS ON CAMPUS. ALSO WITH US, CEO OF THE ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE, JONATHAN GREENBLATT. HIS GROUP IS OUT WITH NEW DATA ON ANTI-SEMITIC INCIDENTS IN THE UNITED STATES IN THE LAST YEAR. JEREMY, IT SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN, JUST WITHIN THE LAST COUPLE WEEKS EVEN, A BIT OF A CHANGE IN THE APPROACH THAT SOME, NOT ALL, THAT SOME LEADERS OF CAMPUSES, OF UNIVERSITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY ARE TAKING WITH THESE PROTESTS. WHAT DID YOU FIND IN YOUR REPORTING? >> THAT'S EXACTLY RIGHT, WILLIE. SCHOOLS HAVE HAD ENOUGH. VANDERBILT ISSUED WHAT ARE BELIEVED TO BE THE FIRST EXPULSIONS OF STUDENT PROTESTERS RELATED TO DEMONSTRATION STEMMING FROM THE OCTOBER 7th HAMAS ATTACK ON ISRAEL. FROM VANDERBILT TO NYU TO COLUMBIA TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN TO POMONA, SCHOOLS ARE SAYING, BASICALLY, "LOOK, THIS IS NOT ABOUT FREE SPEECH. YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO SPEAK UP. YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO DEMONSTRATE. WHAT YOU DON'T HAVE IS A RIGHT TO HARASS AND DISRUPT." THAT'S WHAT'S REALLY BEEN IMPEDING THESE UNIVERSITY'S CORE MISSION, WHICH IS TO EDUCATE YOUR STUDENTS. YOU CAN'T HAVE AN ENVIRONMENT THAT IS CONSTANTLY DISRUPTED, WHERE STUDENTS ARE SUBJECT TO HARASSMENT, WITH THEY'RE SPIN UPON, YELLED AT, WHERE GRADUATION CEREMONIES, OR LIKE THE INCIDENT I WROTE ABOUT AT MY ALMA MATER, THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, THIS HONORS CONVOCATION THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THIS LOVELY, CELEBRATORY MOMENT WHERE KIDS WHO WERE THE HIGHEST ACHIEVING STUDENTS ARE HONORED. THEIR PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS ARE THERE. WHAT HAPPENED? IT GOT DISRUPTED AND HAD TO BE SHUT DOWN EARLY BECAUSE OF PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTERS STANDING UP AND SHOUTING DOWN SPEAKERS AND UNFURLING BANNERS. THIS IS SOMETHING I THINK UNIVERSITIES HAVE BEEN SLOW TO ACKNOWLEDGE. I MEAN, REMEMBER DURING THE TRUMP YEARS, UNIVERSITIES REALLY BECAME THIS CAULDRON OF PROTESTING ACTIVITY, WHERE THIS OVERLY SENSOROUS CULTURE DEVELOPED. IF THERE WAS A SPEAKER WHO WAS CONSERVATIVE OR ALIGNED WITH TRUMP, INSTEAD OF LETTING THAT PERSON SPEAK, A LOT OF TIMES, THE SPEAK WOULD BE CANCELED OUT OF FEAR FOR THE SAFETY OF THAT SPEAKER. OR PEOPLE WOULD INTERRUPT THE SPEAKER. NOW, YOU KNOW, I THINK UNIVERSITIES ARE SAYING, WE DIDN'T DO ENOUGH TO REIN THAT IN, BUT NOW THEY ARE. >> YOU KNOW, THE THING IS, THAT'S HAPPENED OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS, BUT THIS HAS BEEN A PROBLEM FOR A LONG TIME. I'LL JUST SAY IT, BRATS WHO ARE PROTESTING WHEN, SAY, CHRISTINE LAGARDE TRIES TO SPEAK AT A GRADUATION, OR CONDI RICE TRIES TO SPEAK, OR EVEN CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN ONE TIME WAS CANCELED FROM SPEAKING AT THE GRADUATION. I HAVE TO SAY, YOU'RE EITHER THE ADULT RUNNING THE CAMPUS OR YOU'RE THE CHILD THAT IS INCAPABLE OF CONTROLLING STUDENTS. THE STUDENTS ARE THERE TO LEARN. THAT MEANS ALL THE STUDENTS ARE THERE TO LEARN. NOT JUST STUDENTS WHO DECIDE THIS ONE ISSUE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE TO THEM, AND I CERTAINLY UNDERSTAND, IF GAZA IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE, ESPECIALLY TO PALESTINIAN STUDENTS IN AMERICAN. BUT IT GOES WELL BEYOND THAT. YOU CAN'T SHUT DOWN AN ENTIRE CAMPUS. YOUR RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH DOESN'T MEAN YOUR RIGHT TO IMPINGE UPON
