‘Saturday Night Live’ Addresses Columbia University Protests From the Perspective of Parents in Public

“Saturday Night Live” took aim at Saturday’s anti-Israel student protests, specifically from the perspective of parents who have children attending Columbia University, during the cold open.

Kenan Thompson played the father of a Columbia student and began by praising young people who stand up for what they believe in during a mock interview. However, when asked specifically about his daughter, Thompson said, “She better have her butt in class.”

“Let me find out in one of those damn tents, instead of the dorm I pay for,” he said, before the interviewer questioned his initial statement about supporting students.

“I’m all for all of you protesting. My kids know better,” Thompson said. When asked what he thought of the group of protesters who took over Hamilton Hall, an academic building on Columbia’s campus, he said, “That’s good for all you kids, but you’re not mine.”

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Thompson said Columbia had the “effrontery” to charge $68,000 a year in tuition.

“I’m here doing everything I can to pay all that tuition,” Thompson said. “I do it all. Uber all day. Uber Eats all night. I mow lawns on the weekends, sell Gucci purses out of my truck. I hunt for bounties whenever I can. All of that just so she can say she got a degree in African-American “It’s like, girl, you’ve been black your whole life. Know what it is”.

Thompson revealed exactly what he planned to do when his daughter graduated and insisted that the university would hold a graduation even if he had to do it himself. Several universities have considered canceling their graduation ceremonies as anti-Israel protests have gripped campuses.

“You can take that to the bank. This girl started college during COVID,” he said. “She had me here paying $68,000 for tuition, and she’s at my house taking classes on Zoom, learning about the applied history of the BET Awards. If she doesn’t walk, Columbia will be in the news for something else!”

Anti-Israel protesters hang signs from Columbia University in New York City on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. Columbia announced its campus would remain closed “until circumstances permit” after students occupied Hamilton Hall. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)

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Police cleared Columbia’s Hamilton Hall on Tuesday after protesters took it over on Monday.

The camp on campus was also cleared of agitators; only their tents remained when the raid ended.

Students protesting the war between Israel and Hamas have invaded university campuses in recent weeks in an effort to get their universities to divest from companies linked to Israel.

A pro-Palestinian protester holds a flag on the rooftop of Hamilton Hall at Columbia University in New York, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. Pro-Palestinian student protesters barricaded themselves at Columbia’s Hamilton Hall building on Tuesday after the school began suspending students who defied an order to clear their camp. (Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Fox News’ Elizabeth Pritchett contributed to this report.