Columbia University Graduation Plans Under Scrutiny After Protests and Arrests

NEW YORK – Columbia University is rethinking its graduation plans after weeks of anti-Palestinian protests that ended with authorities storming a barricaded school building and arresting dozens of people, according to a university source and two members of the student government.

A university source said the main graduation ceremony was planned to be cancelled, but smaller events were still being planned.

After a meeting with the university’s top leaders on Friday, two members of the student government said administrators had expressed uncertainty about holding a graduation ceremony at the main Morningside Heights campus in Manhattan because of safety concerns.

It is unclear whether final decisions have been made.

“We know that our students and their loved ones are asking about plans for college graduation and school days. “The Columbia offices are committed to ensuring that all ceremonies go smoothly and that all of our students, their families and friends receive the celebration they deserve,” said a Columbia spokesperson. in a statement when they were asked to comment on the plans for graduation.

News of the botched shooting came after law enforcement sources told NBC New York that more than 40% of those arrested at Columbia and City College had no connection to the schools, and several had known criminal records. . Isabel Peralya-Hill with the details.

One of the student government representatives who was at the meeting said that the Columbia administration is particularly concerned about outside activists and that they are struggling to find another place.

Students told university leaders that many students are concerned about President Minouche Shafik’s speech at the ceremony. “His presence would cause a lot of unrest,” one of the student leaders told NBC News.

Other students are worried about the cost of staying on campus until May 15, when graduation is scheduled, only to find out it has been canceled.

About 15,000 students are expected to graduate in separate outdoor ceremonies on May 15. Graduation from an Ivy League school is a time-honored tradition that dates back to 1758, when the school was named King’s College. Each school in Columbia also usually holds its own graduation ceremonies.

A faculty member said some Columbia and Barnard faculty and staff plan to attend another graduation ceremony on May 16. Another member involved in the planning said the graduation would be inspired by the graduation held in 1968.

Protests on Columbia’s upper Manhattan campus began on April 17 when students pitched about 50 tents as they called for a ceasefire in Gaza and demanded that the university divest from companies that saying they could benefit from the war.

Authorities dispersed the protesters, but they returned and camps quickly appeared on college campuses across the country.

Luis Alejandro Medina reports for us from Lower Manhattan.

In Columbia, school administrators asked New York City police officers for help after protesters, including people city officials described as “professional agitators” out,” to occupy a campus building early Tuesday morning and turn themselves in.

On Tuesday night, police in riot gear arrived at the school around 9pm and entered Hamilton Hall through a second floor window. Nearly 100 people were arrested, authorities said, including 40 who were on the first floor of the alleged building.

The arrests have undermined confidence in Shafik among some Columbia students and faculty. In a letter to the New York Police Department asking for its help in cleaning up Hamilton Hall, the university’s president said the post there “left us with no choice.”

In its request for police assistance, Columbia asked the NYPD to remain on campus, at least until May 17, two days after commencement.

A Columbia spokeswoman had warned students that they faced suspension if they did not disperse a camp that had grown on the west lawn of campus by the end of the academic year, and that if they were seniors they would not be eligible graduated.

“The unrest on campus has created a dangerous environment for many,” said spokesman Ben Chang, adding that the measures the school was taking were “in response to the actions of the protesters, not their purpose.”

While campus unrest is affecting other schools, including police intervention and arrests, Columbia’s dilemma is whether to hold a graduation ceremony, but with serious security concerns, or postpone it until tur – is another one that other universities have had.

Last month, the University of Southern California in Los Angeles said it would cancel its main graduation ceremony, scheduled for May 10, which was to include a keynote speech by alumnus Jon M. Chu, director “Crazy Rich Asians” and a display of honorary degrees for tennis star Billie Jean King and others.

The school had already canceled a Muslim student’s graduation speech following controversy over her social media posts about Israel’s war in Gaza. But USC said it would continue to host individual school graduation ceremonies and other related events.

This story was originally published on NBC News.