The administration at Columbia University, where students have created an encampment protesting the war in Gaza, has reportedly threatened to call the National Guard on students - prompting outrage from many people within and outside the campus.
In spite of the administration's threats, however, only the state or federal government can deploy National Guard troops. The university can request the assistance of the National Guard but they are not guaranteed the government's backing or support.
Typically, the National Guard is mobilized by an individual state's governor, though the president does have the ability to federalize the troops. In recent years, the National Guard has been deployed for events ranging from Black Lives Matter protests to environmental disasters. New York Governor Kathy Hochul recently activated the National Guard in New York City, in an effort to address crime on the subway.
Students affiliated with Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine (CUAD) criticized the administration's threats which they characterized as an "escalation of violence" likening it to the infamous Kent State Massacre. Anthony Zenkus, an adjunct professor at the Columbia School of Social Work expressed similar sentiments on social media.
"Those calling for the National Guard to be sent onto college campuses are well aware of the Kent State Massacre where 4 student anti-war protesters were shot and killed," he wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. "I believe they are making this demand, not in spite of this history, but because of it."
There is a history of the National Guard being deployed to college campuses - notably during anti-war protests, but also when President John F. Kennedy deployed troops to the University of Alabama to force the university to desegregate.
Columbia's administration has already been subject to scrutiny for its decision to authorize the New York Police Department to enter the campus and arrest protestors. More than a hundred Columbia and Barnard students, including Representative Ilhan Omar's daughter, were arrested - prompting more than a hundred faculty members to walk out.
"I want the university to understand who is at risk here," Sofia Ong'ele, a member of CUAD, said in a press release. "The lawn is made up of a diverse coalition of predominantly Black, brown and Jewish students at Columbia who are at serious risk of police violence."
