Columbia University tightens campus access after student protesters control building

NEW YORK -- Columbia University further limited access to its Morningside Campus on Tuesday as dozens of student protesters occupied Hamilton Hall on the campus early Tuesday.

Only students residing in residential buildings on campus and employees who provide essential services to campus buildings, labs and residential student life have access to the campus now, said an announcement by Columbia University.

"This access restriction will remain in place until circumstances allow otherwise," it said.

The escalation follows a setback in the talks between student protesters and the administrators of the university on Monday, when students in the encampment were asked to disperse by Monday afternoon and faced suspension for staying in the encampment.

Columbia University President Minouche Shafik said the university "will not divest from Israel" on Monday morning.

Protesters intend to remain at the building until Columbia University concedes to their demands on divestment from Israel, financial transparency on the university's investment as well as amnesty for students and faculty members disciplined or fired in the protest, according to a release by Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a coalition of student organizations advocating for the end of Israeli apartheid.

Columbia University students have been staging protests against Israeli operations in Gaza and set up an encampment on campus in the last two weeks, which spread to scores of campuses across the United States and a few other countries and resulting in the arrest of hundreds of protesters.