Pro-Palestinian students hold separate ‘People’s University for Palestine’ ceremony off campus
Columbia University plans to hold its traditional institution-wide commencement ceremony on Wednesday after cancelling it in 2024 due to pro-Palestinian protests.
On Sunday, a group of pro-Palestinian students held their own, independent commencement off campus under the name “People’s University for Palestine.” Still, some in the university community fear there will be disruptions at the Wednesday event, the Westside Rag reports.
“The University has been preparing for Commencement and taking precautions to ensure safe and successful events,” Columbia President Claire Shipman’s office said in a statement to the news outlet.
“Commencement will honor more than 16,000 new graduates, and our hardworking students deserve a joyful day of celebration with their families,” Shipman’s office stated.
The report continues:
Though the campus has been quieter much of this academic year, police were called in earlier this month to end an occupation of Butler Library by pro-Palestinian protestors. Dozens were arrested, and some students got suspensions that will prevent them from participating in Wednesday’s graduation ceremony. Some longtime staff and faculty expressed concerns that the ceremony – which will be addressed by acting Columbia President Claire Shipman, who authorized the police action this month – could be disrupted by protests. …
Despite the tensions, multiple faculty members say they have not been given any information about additional security measures for Wednesday’s commencement.
Others declined to comment to the New York City news outlet, saying the situation is too “politically charged.”
On Sunday, pro-Palestinian supporters held their own private graduation ceremony off campus for Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia graduate and immigration detainee, and other students, according to Democracy NOW.
Noor Abdalla, Khalil’s wife, accepted the “People’s University for Palestine” diploma on his behalf, and read a statement from her husband, who currently is in an immigration detention facility in Louisiana, the report states.
“It has been two months since I was taken from my family and from you, detained simply for speaking the truth about Palestine,” Khalil’s statement read, in part. “Columbia University, the place where we sought knowledge, justice and truth, chose silence instead of solidarity. It failed me, but you didn’t. You showed up. You reminded me that while institutions may abandon us, the people never will.”
In 2024, Columbia canceled its university-wide commencement ceremony due to safety concerns regarding pro-Palestinian protests, The College Fix reported at the time.
Instead, the New York university provided increased security for its Class Days and individual school ceremonies.
A week before commencement that year, police arrested more than 200 pro-Palestinian protesters after they refused to break up their encampment on the campus lawn; others took over Hamilton Hall, smashing windows, breaking through doors, and barricading themselves inside, the Columbia Spectator reported at the time.
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IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Students throw their graduation caps in the air. Syda Productions/Shutterstock