NEW YORK – Columbia University says it expelled or suspended students who took over campus buildings during a pro-Palestinian protest last spring, temporarily revoking diplomas for students who graduated since graduating.
In a campus-wide email sent Thursday, the university said the Judiciary Committee issued sanctions against dozens of students who occupied Hamilton Hall based on a “assessment of the severity of conduct.”
The university did not provide a breakdown of how many students were expelled, suspended or revoked their degrees.
According to President Donald Trump, the culmination of the months-long investigation process comes as the university's activist community has been shaking since the arrest of well-known campus activist Mahmoud Khalil by federal immigration authorities last Saturday.
At the same time, the Trump administration stripped the university of more than $400 million in federal funds for what was described as a university's inaction against widespread campus anti-Semitism.
The acquisition of Hamilton Hall took place on April 30, 2024. This is an escalation led by a small group of tent camps that have emerged on Columbia's campus against the war in Gaza.
Students and their allies barricaded the halls with furniture and padlocks in a massive escalation of campus protests.
At the request of a university leader, hundreds of officers from the New York Police Station burst into campus the following night. Officers carrying zip ties and riot shields were poured through windows into the occupied buildings, arresting dozens of people.
At a court hearing in June, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office said it would not pursue criminal charges for 31 of the 46 people first arrested on suspicion of trespassing inside the administration building, but all students still face the possibility of expulsion from the university.
The District Attorney's Office said it had dismissed the charges at the time against most people arrested inside the building. He said this was due to the lack of evidence related to certain property damage conduct and the fact that neither of the students had a criminal history.
Dozens of people arrested were offered a deal that would ultimately lead to the dismissal of their accusations, but they rejected them, the organizers of the protest said, “In a show of solidarity with those facing the most extreme oppression.” Most of the group was alumni, but the two were current students, prosecutors said.
