The Impressive TimesNew York, July 23, 2025: Columbia University has taken strict disciplinary action against students involved in pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus, expelling and suspending nearly 80 individuals for participating in protests over Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza. The university has also revoked academic degrees of some students, marking one of the most significant disciplinary responses to campus protests in recent memory.
In a statement released Tuesday, Columbia confirmed that the punishments were related to protests staged at Butler Library in May 2025 and an encampment during Alumni Weekend in Spring 2024. The protests were part of a broader student-led movement demanding the university divest from companies linked to Israel’s military.
The university stated, “Disruptions to academic activities are in violation of University policies and rules, and such violations will necessarily generate consequences.”
According to Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), the student organization at the forefront of the protests, several students have been expelled while others face suspensions lasting up to three years. “We will not be deterred. We are committed to the struggle for Palestinian liberation,” CUAD said in a statement, criticizing the administration’s response as excessive and unprecedented.
Protests at Columbia drew national and international attention in 2024 when student encampments led to the deployment of hundreds of NYPD officers on campus and mass arrests. Despite the crackdown, demonstrators returned in May 2025 to occupy Butler Library during final exams.
The protestors demanded Columbia divest from firms associated with the Israeli military and cease financial ties with Israel. The university’s judicial board labeled the demonstrations as major campus disruptions and justified the disciplinary measures as the “final set of findings from that period.”
Meanwhile, Columbia continues efforts to restore $400 million in federal funding cut during the Trump administration, which accused the university of failing to protect Jewish students from harassment. The university’s interim president, Claire Shipman, faced student backlash during the May 2025 graduation ceremony.
In related developments, Harvard University has taken the Trump administration to court over similar threats of funding cuts tied to campus protests.
The Columbia controversy unfolds amid worsening conditions in Gaza, where health officials reported that at least 15 people, including a six-week-old infant, died from hunger in a single day. Student protest leader Mahmoud Khalil, recently released from immigration detention, has also met lawmakers in Washington amid the administration’s threats to deport pro-Palestinian activists.
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