Four NYC student journalists temporarily suspended following protest coverage

Four student reporters were temporarily suspended from Barnard College and Columbia College in New York, New York, on May 8, 2025, after covering a pro-Palestinian protest on Columbia University’s campus.

Three of the students, Sawyer Huckabee of Columbia and Natalie Lahr and Celeste Gamble of Barnard, report for the student-run radio station WKCR. A fourth, Luisa Sukkar of Barnard, reports for Columbia Daily Spectator, the student-run paper. (Columbia College is an undergraduate school of the university, and Barnard is an affiliate.)

The four were covering a pro-Palestinian “emergency rally” in Butler Library on Columbia’s campus on May 7, according to Spectator. Around 100 demonstrators gathered and were prevented from leaving by campus police until they provided identification. Eventually, the New York City Police Department was called to the scene, and officers made 78 arrests.

According to Spectator — citing the reporters and video reviewed by the paper — the four journalists identified themselves as press to campus police as they were leaving the library. Additionally, the three WKCR reporters were wearing press badges.

A day later, they received notices from their respective administrations that they had been placed on interim suspensions. The Barnard students’ IDs were deactivated and two of them were told that they would need to leave their housing within 48 hours of receiving the notices, according to Spectator. Moreover, the four were prevented from submitting academic work, meaning they were not able to complete final assignments on schedule, according to the Columbia Journalism Review.

Huckabee’s suspension was lifted the same day, while the Barnard suspensions were lifted the next morning.

Of her experience, Lahr told CJR, “It is a quote-unquote mistake, but it is very useful to the overall purpose of making it harder for us to do our jobs.”

Spectator editors Shea Vance and Heather Chen wrote in a May 13 open letter: “Indiscriminate suspensions and the punishment of student journalists—even temporarily—for doing their jobs will inevitably stifle free press and expression on campus. A University thrives when its students feel safe asking questions and investigating the world around them.”

A Barnard spokesperson told Spectator, “Barnard respects and supports a robust student press.” They added, “As students present in Butler Library during the disruption have been confirmed to be working as journalists, we have notified them that their interim suspensions have been lifted.”

A Columbia spokesperson told CJR, “The interim suspension on the Columbia student journalist was lifted within hours after it was issued once it was determined that the individual was a member of the student press who was covering the protest as a reporter, not a participant in the disruptions to academic activities that were in violation of University policies and Rules.”