Dozens of students at Columbia University were arrested Thursday after occupying part of the campus for 34 hours as part of protesting the war in Gaza.

The students had vowed to occupy the South Lawn on the school’s Morningside Heights campus until the school divests from companies with ties to Israel.

The protest was happening against the backdrop of Columbia University President Minouche Shafik testifying at a congressional hearing on Wednesday about antisemitism at the school

More than 50 police officers responded to the scene with batons and zip ties, according to the Columbia Daily Spectator, after Shafik sent a letter to Michael Gerber, the New York Police Department Deputy Commissioner for Legal Matters requesting assistance.

Shafik said the more than 100 protesters had been told multiple times they must disperse. Students participating in the encampment are suspended, Shafik said.

“The continued encampment raises safety concerns for the individuals involved and the entire community,” Shafik said in her letter. “I have determined that the encampment and related disruptions pose a clear and present danger to the substantial functioning of the university. This is a challenging moment, and these are steps I deeply regret having to take.”

The students did not resist as police arrested them, according to the New York Post. Onlookers chanted “let them go” and “shame on you,” as police took the protesters into custody, according to the Post.

During her testimony at the hearing, titled “Columbia in Crisis: Columbia University’s Response to Antisemitism,” Shafik told the committee she condemned antisemitism and said it had no place on campus.

The university president wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, emphasizing the delicate balance between protecting free speech and fostering a safe environment for students on campus.

“Calling for the genocide of a people — whether they are Israelis or Palestinians, Jews, Muslims or anyone else — has no place in a university community,” Shafik wrote. “Such words are outside the bounds of legitimate debate and unimaginably harmful.”

Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, tensions have run high on university campuses. Jewish students have said that their schools are not doing enough to address antisemitism. Meanwhile, students who have organized in support of Palestinian rights say they have been disproportionately targeted and censored by campus administrations.

Columbia, along with many other colleges and school districts, is the subject of a series of Department of Education investigations into antisemitism and Islamophobia on campuses. It has also been targeted by lawsuits from both sides.

The New York Civil Liberties Union sued over whether the university singled out two pro-Palestinian student organizations when it suspended them from campus over protests in the fall. Groups of Jewish students have also filed suit, saying antisemitism on campus violates their civil rights.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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