1968 Columbia University protests

In April 1968 Columbia University students occupied campus buildings including Low Memorial Library at 535 West 116th Street to protest the university's links to military research and a proposed gymnasium in Morningside Park viewed as discriminatory. The occupations lasted several days and culminated on April 30 with a police action to clear the campus that resulted in hundreds of arrests and widespread controversy. The events at Columbia became a defining moment in the student anti–Vietnam War movement and higher education protest history.