A recent protest at Columbia University has spotlighted an increasingly persistent trend of students from affluent backgrounds engaging in radical activism. On May 7, 2025, 81 individuals were arrested for storming Butler Library, causing property damage and injuring two security officers. Among those students arrested were some particularly affluent activists from prestigious private schools and wealthy families, raising questions about the motivations behind their actions.
Emma Biswas, a Barnard College student, exemplifies this contradiction. Raised in a $5.8 million San Francisco Bay Area mansion and educated at the elite Harker School, Biswas joined protesters who vandalized the library. The mob repeated anti-Israel chants and distributed pamphlets praising the Hamas terror group responsible for the slaughter of 1,200 Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023. Ironically, her father is a senior vice president at Synopsys, a company with ties to Israeli defense firms.
Another participant, Luna Firefly Deerfield Cuming Shaw, attended the $80,200-per-year Putney School in Vermont. Her family boasts connections to notable figures, including photographer Mark Shaw and actress Pat Suzuki. Despite her privileged background, Cuming Shaw joined the protest that disrupted final exams and led to multiple arrests.
Marisol Rojas-Cheatham, a Columbia pre-law student, grew up in a $1.8 million home in Berkeley, California, and attended the Bentley School, where tuition approaches $60,000 annually. Her father works at Kaiser Permanente as a training and development consultant. Rojas-Cheatham’s participation in the protest underscores the involvement of students from affluent families in radical campus activism.
The protest was organized by Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a group advocating for the university to sever ties with Israel. The demonstrators chanted slogans like “We want divestment now” and renamed the library after a terrorist. Their actions led to over 65 interim suspensions and 33 individuals being barred from campus. Some of those arrested were repeat offenders, having participated in previous unauthorized demonstrations.
