Columbia’s president expressed regret about calling in the police to clear a previous protest. On Tuesday, she said she had “no choice” after protesters occupied a building on campus.

Columbia University’s president released a statement Wednesday morning to members of the college community outlining why she called in police the night before. Minouche Shafik said protesters taking over an administration building on campus early Tuesday was a “drastic escalation” of the encampment at the college,

New York City police entered Columbia University Tuesday evening in an apparent effort to disperse pro-Palestinian protesters who seized and occupied a classroom building and have been encamped on the campus for two weeks.

Large numbers of New York City police officers began entering the Columbia University late Tuesday as dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters remained on the campus. Demonstrators had occupied Hamilton Hall hours earlier after setting up an encampment earlier in the month.

Officers took protesters into custody late Tuesday after Columbia University called in police to end the pro-Palestinian occupation on the New York campus.

Around 11 p.m. local time, the New York Police Department said both Hamilton Hall and the rest of Columbia’s campus had been cleared.

The measure aims to "maintain order and ensure encampments are not reestablished," Shafik said in a letter to the NYPD regarding the "unrest" on Columbia University's campus.