Columbia University has decided to cancel its large university-wide commencement ceremony due to ongoing pro-Palestinian protests. Instead, the university will hold smaller, school-based ceremonies this week and next, according to an announcement made on Monday.
In a statement, officials at the Ivy League school in upper Manhattan explained, “Based on feedback from our students, we have decided to focus attention on our Class Days and school-level graduation ceremonies, where students are honored individually alongside their peers, and to forego the university-wide ceremony that is scheduled for May 15.” The decision, made after discussions with students, comes after what the school described as an “incredibly difficult” few weeks for the community.
The university emphasized that these smaller-scale, school-based celebrations are more meaningful to students and their families. “They are eager to cross the stage to applause and family pride and hear from their school’s invited guest speakers,” officials said.
Most of the ceremonies that had been planned for the south lawn of the main campus will now take place about 5 miles north at Columbia’s sports complex, as the encampments that had been set up there were taken down last week, according to officials.
Columbia had previously canceled in-person classes. Last month, over 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had camped out on Columbia’s green were arrested. Similar encampments had appeared at universities around the country, leading schools to grapple with balancing free expression with maintaining safe and inclusive campuses.
The University of Southern California (USC) also canceled its main graduation ceremony but allowed other commencement activities to proceed. At USC, students vacated their camp early Sunday after being surrounded by police and warned of arrest.
The protests are in response to the conflict that began on October 7 when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, resulting in the deaths of approximately 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and the taking of roughly 250 hostages. In response, Israel launched an offensive in Gaza, resulting in the deaths of more than 34,500 Palestinians, about two-thirds of whom were women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. Israeli airstrikes have caused widespread devastation in the enclave, displacing most of its inhabitants.