By Cameryn Oakes

State Sen. Jack Martins, along with his fellow Republican colleagues, called for Columbia University President Minouche Shafik to resign in light of her handling of the pro-Palestinian protests on campus and demanded she testify in front of the state Senate.

A press conference was held on a street corner by Columbia University Friday afternoon, including Martins, fellow Republican state senators and Nassau County Legislator Mazi Pilip (R-Great Neck).

Martins’ criticism was not solely aimed at Columbia’s president, saying that any other university president who doesn’t quell such protests should also resign.

“I think any president that has not intervened aggressively in protecting students generally, and in this case not protecting Jewish students or frankly any other protected class, should resign immediately,” Martins said. “It’s shameful.”

Martins, chair of the Senate Republican Working Group on Antisemitism, called on state Senate leaders to hold a hearing to question the university president.

“This institution and its leadership, and in particular President Shafik, have let our students down,” Martins said. “First, they let down Jewish students who came to this school to learn and were placed in harm’s way and allowed to continue to be in harm’s way with the university taking no action whatsoever to protect them.”

Shafik has testified in front of Congress where she condemned antisemitism and denied claims that the university is fostering hate.

Martins said Democrats were invited to the press conference but none attended. He called for bipartisan unification in addressing these protests and condemned what he called the Democrat’s silence.

“Their silence is deafening,” Martins said.

Protests at Columbia University have endured for weeks, with hundreds of protestors setting up encampments at the school. They have called for the university to divest its funding of organizations supporting Israel and contributing to the Israel-Hamas war.

Martins said that half of the protesters on Columbia’s campus are not affiliated with the university, calling them “agitators.” He said the university administration was aware of these protesters.

“It begs all kinds of questions with regard to accountability, safety,” Martins said. “There has to be a study, there have to be hearings and people have to be held accountable.”

On Tuesday night, more than 300 protesters were arrested on Columbia’s campus after protesters broke into a campus building.

The NYPD said that about 47% of the protesters arrested Tuesday night were not affiliated with the school, ABC News reported.

“Why didn’t they prioritize the safety of the students of this institution or the integrity of the institution and hold them accountable?” Martins said.

The press conference Friday afternoon followed one the week before where County Executive Bruce Blakeman and Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (NY-04) also called for Columbia’s president to resign and for donations to be withheld.

Blakeman also condemned Hoftsra University President Susan Poser for protests on the campus and for “equivocating” in her support for Israel.

While Columbia’s protests have been in the national spotlight, protests at several other universities have been started as well. This includes universities on Long Island, like Stony Brook University, Hofstra University and Adelphi University, and multiple colleges in New York City.

Stony Brook University protests began on Tuesday and were initially described as peaceful. The university’s president told Newsday that they then escalated Wednesday night.

Protest at Stony Brook Unversity culminated with arrests late Wednesday night. A total of 29 protesters were arrested, including 22 students and two faculty members.

At least 10 were charged with disorderly conduct, Newsday reported, and three students were put on interim suspension.

Protests resumed on the campus Thursday despite the police breaking them up and arresting individuals.

A pro-Palestinian protest began on Hofstra’s campus on April 25, which a Hofstra spokesperson told News12 encompassed students and faculty. It was described as peaceful.

Pilip condemned the university protests Friday, which she referred to as “insanity” and said protesters had “lost their minds.”

“We are here to support [Jewish students] and we’ll do anything in our power to hold those terrorist supporters accountable,” Pilip said.