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Columbia suspends, expels 80 students for participating in Gaza protests, university says ‘such violations will…’
Columbia University said the latest punishments are related to protests at Butler Library in May 2025 and an encampment during Alumni Weekend in spring 2024.
Columbia University has taken strong action against students who joined protests against Israel’s war in Gaza. The school has expelled some students, suspended others, and even revoked academic degrees.
According to the student group Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), around 80 students have now been punished. Some were expelled, and others were suspended for as long as three years. CUAD has been calling on Columbia to cut all financial ties with Israel, according to Al Jazeera report.
Punished for protests at Butler Library
In a statement on Tuesday, Columbia said the latest punishments are related to protests at Butler Library in May 2025 and an encampment during Alumni Weekend in spring 2024.
The university said, “Disruptions to academic activities are in violation of University policies and rules, and such violations will necessarily generate consequences.”
CUAD said Columbia’s actions go far beyond what’s been done in past campus protests.
The group said, “We will not be deterred. We are committed to the struggle for Palestinian liberation.”
Student encampments at Columbia in 2024 drew national and global attention. The protests were eventually shut down after the university let hundreds of NYPD officers onto campus, leading to many arrests.
Despite that, student protesters took over Butler Library again during final exams in May. They called for the university to stop investing in companies tied to the Israeli military and showed support for Palestinians in Gaza. Columbia’s Judicial Board said expulsions, suspensions, and revoked degrees were handed out for disrupting the campus during that time. The university didn’t say how many were expelled but said this was “the final set of findings from that period.”
Columbia is also trying to get back $400 million in federal funding. The Trump administration cut the funds, saying the university didn’t do enough to protect Jewish students from harassment.
Claire Shipman, Columbia’s acting president and a former trustee, was booed by students during the May graduation ceremony because of her role in punishing the pro-Palestinian protests.
Harvard University also faced threats of funding cuts
Meanwhile, Harvard University, which also faced threats of funding cuts, has taken the Trump administration to court over it.
The disciplinary actions at Columbia came the same day reports from Gaza said at least 15 people, including a six-week-old baby, died from hunger and malnutrition in a single day, according to local health officials.
Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia protest leader who was detained by immigration officials, met with lawmakers in Washington, DC, on Tuesday. He had recently been released from a Louisiana detention center. The Trump administration has said it plans to deport pro-Palestinian activists.
