Columbia University suspends, expels nearly 80 students over Gaza protests

Some students besides had their degrees revoked for participating successful antiwar protests, including the 2024 Gaza encampments.

Columbia University successful the United States has imposed terrible punishments, including expulsion, suspension from courses and revocation of world degrees, connected dozens of students who participated successful protests against Israel’s warfare connected Gaza.

The pupil activistic radical Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), which has called for the schoolhouse to chopped each fiscal ties with Israel, said successful a connection that astir 80 students person present been either expelled oregon suspended for up to 3 years implicit their engagement successful antiwar protests.

On Tuesday, Columbia said successful a connection that its latest punishment of students relates to “disruption of Butler Library successful May 2025 and the encampment during Alumni Weekend successful outpouring 2024″.

“Disruptions to world activities are successful usurpation of University policies and rules, and specified violations volition needfully make consequences,” the assemblage wrote.

The CUAD radical said the university’s sanctions connected students “hugely transcend precedent for teach-ins oregon non-Palestine-related gathering occupations”.

“We volition not beryllium deterred. We are committed to the conflict for Palestinian liberation,” the radical added.

The pro-Palestinian pupil encampments astatine Columbia University successful 2024 helped ignite a planetary movement against Israel’s unrelenting warfare connected Palestinians successful the Gaza Strip. The protestation sites were yet breached up erstwhile Columbia University allowed hundreds of New York City constabulary officers on campus, starring to dozens of arrests.

Despite the university’s harsh crackdowns, pupil protesters occupied the Butler Library during last exams successful May this year, demanding divestment from companies linked to the Israeli subject and expressing solidarity with Palestinians successful Gaza.

Columbia University’s Judicial Board confirmed it issued expulsions, suspensions and grade revocations aft what it called a disruption during “reading period”. It did not accidental however galore students were expelled but said that this was “the last acceptable of findings from that period”.

The Ivy League assemblage is successful negotiations with US President Donald Trump’s medication to reconstruct immoderate $400m successful national funding. The Trump medication chopped funds to the New York City-based instauration implicit what it claimed were failures to “meaningfully support Jewish students against terrible and pervasive harassment”.

Columbia’s acting president, Claire Shipman, a erstwhile trustee, was booed by students during a May graduation ceremonial for her relation successful cracking down connected pro-Palestinian protests.

Fellow Ivy League instauration Harvard University, which has besides been targeted with billions successful backing cuts by the government, has pushed back against unit to alteration its policies by taking the Trump medication to court.

The latest disciplinary measures announced by Columbia against students came connected Tuesday arsenic Israel’s siege connected the Gaza Strip continued to origin wide starvation, with astatine slightest 15 people, including a six-week-old baby, dying from hunger and malnutrition wrong a 24-hour period, according to wellness officials.

Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University protestation person targeted for deportation by the Trump administration, met with lawmakers successful Washington, DC, connected Tuesday, much than a period aft helium was released from migration custody successful Louisiana, wherever helium was being held amid a pledge by the US president to deport pro-Palestinian activists.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies