At least three Columbia University students facing discipline for their involvement in student protests have sued the school in housing court to get access to their dorms and remove their belongings, court filings show.
The cases all describe a similar scenario in which students were abruptly locked out of their dorms and had their keycards disabled following the mass arrests of pro-Palestinian protesters by police at the Morningside Heights campus.
The cases filed in Manhattan Housing Court indicate that the university followed through on its pledge to impose harsh consequences on students who participated in the demonstrations. Filings in two of the three cases show that Columbia backed off of a protracted legal battle and settled with the students, granting them temporary access to their dorms to gather their belongings.
“We see a lot of bad landlords, but I have to say that rarely do we see a landlord acting as entitled to ignore the law as we’re seeing now with these universities,” said Christine Clarke, a lawyer from the nonprofit Legal Services NYC who is handling all the cases.
The lawsuits argue that Columbia is subject to the same housing laws as other New York City landlords. Under those laws, removing a tenant requires that a judge sign off on an eviction. Further, only a city marshal acting on a warrant can evict a tenant, who must be given at least 14 days notice.
The lawsuits claim that Columbia “unlawfully evicted” the students by changing their dorm locks and kicking them out with less than a day’s notice.
Columbia senior Franziska Lee, 21, pleaded not guilty to criminal trespassing in connection with the NYPD raid on April 30 that targeted students who occupied a campus building, Hamilton Hall, as well as students in a nearby encampment.
Lee alleged in her suit filed Tuesday that the locks on her dorm were changed the day after her arrest. Her suit said she “had to stay with friends” and that she did “not have access to the majority of her belongings, such as her clothes and academic materials.”
Another senior, Sebastian Jimenez, 21, also pleaded not guilty to criminal trespassing in connection with the same April 30 crackdown. According to his suit, the lock on his dorm room door was changed, but a residence hall director helped him regain access.
Once Jimenez was back inside, he said he couldn’t leave because there was no way he could haul out his belongings in one trip.
Jimenez was “forced to remain at the [dorm room], because he would not be able to return once he left,” according to the suit. He had “to rely upon friends to bring him food and other necessities.”
Jimenez reached an agreement with Columbia on Tuesday that would allow him to stay in his $11,600-a-year dorm until Saturday. Anything left in his room afterward would be thrown away, court filings state.
Emily Hui, a 19-year-old sophomore at Barnard College, which is part of Columbia, had her access to campus revoked on April 19, one day after police entered the university and arrested 113 pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
The NYPD and the Manhattan district attorney’s office had no record of Hui’s arrest. But her lawyer said Columbia believes she received a citation for trespassing.
Court records show Hui, 19, withdrew her housing court lawsuit two days after it was filed because Columbia restored her access to the dorm.
Columbia’s press office did not respond to an inquiry about the lawsuits.
In a letter requesting the NYPD’s help dismantling encampments and removing protesters, Columbia President Minouche Shafik wrote last week that “all participants in the encampments are suspended, not authorized to be on university property and are trespassing.”
David Brand contributed reporting to this story.