'Distressed' Columbia law students demand exam cancellation over anti-Israel protests

Columbia Law students are demanding the cancellation of final exams and automatic passing for all students after being left "irrevocably shaken" witnessing what they describe as NYPD "violence" in response to anti-Israel protests last week. The student editors of Columbia Law Review, in a letter that the crackdown left many of them "unable to focus and highly emotional". The letter was written shortly after the NYPD dispersed protesters' tents on Tuesday night and removed them from Hamilton Hall nearby. "The violence we witnessed last night has irrevocably shaken many of us on the Review," the letter read. "We know this to be the same for a majority of our classmates." "Videos have circulated of police clad in riot gear mocking and brutalizing our students. The events of last night left us, and many of our peers, unable to focus and highly emotional during this tumultuous time." "We believe that canceling exams would be a proportionate response to the level of distress our peers have been feeling." The law students also said the school should at least let students receive a simple pass/fail grade because they’re just so upset. "In the alternative, making courses mandatory pass/fail would be the next most equitable solution," it read.