Columbia University and its women-only institution, Barnard College, have been some of the most abysmal in the handling of on-campus protests. Last year, Columbia’s Hamilton Hall was taken over by anti-Semitic protesters, and janitors were locked in a closet. What happened? Nothing.

There was a glimmer of hope that perhaps Barnard might have more courage than the administration at Columbia when it recently expelled two students who were among those that barged into a “History of Modern Israel” class being taught by historian Dr. Avi Shilon. Dr. Shilon attempted to engage the intruders in discussion and the free exchange of ideas, but the students preferred to spread their vile posters and disrupt the class instead. Here’s what Dr. Shilon wrote about the invasion of his classroom:

I arrived in New York after a terrible year in Israel. The Oct. 7 massacre was followed by constant sirens and missiles from all directions, alongside daily accounts of the horrors experienced by the hostages. I was shocked by the protesters, in a visceral way. In the very first seconds after they entered with their faces covered, my immediate association was with terrorists. That is how terrorists appear in Israel.

But coming, as I did, from an environment of constant threat and terror, I ultimately saw their intrusion into the classroom not as a threat to my existence, but rather as harassment.

But for my Jewish students — and not all students in the class, it bears noting, are Jewish — that intrusion, and the wave of campus protests it symbolized, appeared to undermine their sense of home in the United States. …

Hence the great irony of the intrusion: These students were protesting for the exact same reason I was at Columbia in the first place, which is, a massive Middle Eastern disruption has made many people feel deeply invested in a conflict about which they know very little. These protesters believe there is only one true narrative of the story of this disruption, but a good historian cannot simply present one side of the story. When the conflict is studied in depth, it becomes clear that placing one-sided blame on Israel is a move profoundly divorced from reality.

In late February, more than a month after the incident, two seniors at Barnard College were expelled.

However, mere days later, a group of protesters invaded Milbank Hall and assaulted an employee who confronted them. That employee was taken to the hospital. But instead of continuing the good precedent they had set with expulsion, the dean of Barnard, whose office is housed in Milbank Hall, decided to negotiate with these so-called protesters. While it appears that the original two students remain expelled, this violent group of protesters faced no consequences. It’s unclear how many were students or if there was a professional contingent among the group. Either way, the police should have been called in and the invaders should have been dealt with in a severe way.

Former Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, who was the U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism under President Joe Biden, wrote an article in The Free Press denouncing Columbia and Barnard for their failure to protect Jewish students and faculty — and frankly, their failure to enforce their own rules and regulations. Columbia University offered Lipstadt a visiting professorship, but after the events of last week, she turned it down. Accepting the position would “be used as a sop to convince the outside world that ‘Yes, we in the Columbia/Barnard orbit are fighting antisemitism,’” she said. “‘We even brought in the former Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism.’” She added, “I will not be used to provide cover for a completely unacceptable situation.”

She further pointed out that if these unlawful protests are allowed to continue, the environment is not safe for learning or teaching.

Clearly, Columbia University and Barnard College — as well as many others across the nation — are unwilling to confront the protesters who flaunt the rules and have made the learning environment stressful and difficult. These schools have the power and duty to end these violent protests, yet they do nothing.

So now, the federal government will have to step in. The Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism is paying a visit to Columbia University. Leo Terrell, who is leading the task force, told Israel’s Channel 12 News, “You see all these disorderly demonstrations, supporting Hamas and trying to intimidate Jews? We are going to put these people in jail — not for 24 hours, but for years.”

Many terrible political movements were fomented in the halls of universities (see the Nazi movement/Bolshevik revolution). College students are young, impressionable, easily manipulated, and passionate. In other words, the university is the perfect breeding ground for the malevolent. In the case of the Israel/Hamas war, many of the protesters — some of whom hold “Queers for Palestine” signs — don’t really understand what is going on or who they are actually supporting. They’ve just been told that a group of people is being “oppressed” by a whiter group.

At the end of the day, the universities are in charge of enforcing the rules and regulations that they set in place to protect students and faculty. Columbia and Barnard have failed in that duty. Hopefully, there will now be a consequence in the form of government intervention.