Columbia cancels main graduation amid Gaza protests

1 week ago
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Pro-Palestinian protestors near an entrance to Columbia University on 30 April 2024Image source, Getty Images

Columbia University has cancelled its main graduation after weeks of protests on campus over the Israel-Gaza war.

The Ivy League school said it is ditching the 15 May commencement in favour of smaller celebrations to focus on "keeping them safe".

The New York City university said it arrived at the decision after consultations with student leaders.

Colleges across the US are bracing for disruptions at upcoming graduations amid pro-Palestinian protests.

Columbia said in a statement on Monday: "Our students emphasized that these smaller-scale, school-based celebrations are most meaningful to them and their families.

"They are eager to cross the stage to applause and family pride and hear from their school's invited guest speakers.

"As a result, we will focus our resources on those school ceremonies and on keeping them safe, respectful, and running smoothly."

There have been demonstrations at nearly 140 colleges across 45 states and Washington DC since the protests started at Columbia University in mid-April, according to a BBC tally.

About 2,500 people have been arrested at campuses nationwide, according to an Associated Press count.

Last week, Columbia called in the police to clear pro-Palestinian protesters from its campus in Upper Manhattan, leading to more than 100 arrests.

Demonstrators had occupied Hamilton Hall, renaming it Hind's Hall, after a six-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed in Gaza.

The college also sent in officers on 18 April to arrest more than 100 demonstrators who had pitched dozens of tents at the Morningside neighborhood campus.

The protesters have been calling for the college to divest from companies they say are profiting from the Israel-Gaza war, but a number of incidents of antisemitism have been reported during the unrest.

Columbia has asked that New York police remain on campus until at least 17 May.

Columbia cancelled its graduation a day after police in Los Angeles cleared out a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Southern California (USC). No arrests were reported.

In a statement on Sunday, USC President Carol Folt said action had to be taken because the encampment was disrupting exams and preparations for graduation, and the situation was "spiralling in a dangerous direction".

Also on Sunday, Northeastern University's graduation ceremony in Boston passed largely peacefully at the city's Fenway Park, with police on site.

Members of the graduating class held Palestinian flags and chanted pro-Palestinian phrases. Other students waved Israeli flags.

The University of Mississippi, meanwhile, is investigating a student accused of apparently making monkey sounds toward a black woman during protests on campus last week.

Social media videos showed pro-Palestinian demonstrators shouted down by a larger group of counter-protesters last Thursday.

The college said it had opened an inquiry into "actions that conveyed hostility and racist overtones".

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