Columbia University President Minoush Shafiq will skip the largest graduation ceremony for fourth-year students on campus next week following weeks of division over anti-Israel protests that ended in two NYPD crackdowns on campus. do.
A memo sent to students at Columbia University, where more than half of the university’s undergraduate students attend, indicated that Mr. Shafiq would not attend the “class day.”
Class Day celebrations typically feature students and a keynote speaker, and are an opportunity for graduates to walk across the stage and shake hands with deans and presidents before officially receiving their degrees.
Class Day is also a big opportunity for friends and family to celebrate the completion of their studies at the $90,000-a-year university.
Shafik’s absence from the May 14 event was secretly announced through an addendum to the class day information email sent to students, first reported by Columbia University senior Eilee Zentner.
“Program Adjustment: President Shafiq will not attend the Columbia University Class Day Ceremony. Please note that this change will not be reflected in the printed program,” the memo said, according to an email reviewed by the Post. It was written in
The Columbia newspaper declined to confirm the report when first contacted by the Post.
Columbia University is a major Ivy League university, along with the Fu Foundation School for Engineering and Applied Sciences and the General Studies program.
Columbia University’s offices are in Hamilton Hall, an academic building that was occupied by anti-Israel protesters earlier this month.
Already under fire from both sides for his handling of campus tent encampments, Mr. Shafik faced a new wave of criticism for authorizing the NYPD to raid the campus a second time and clear the building.
The operation resulted in dozens of arrests and further escalated the ongoing conflict on campus.
A few days later, Columbia University announced it was canceling university-wide graduation ceremonies due to safety concerns.
In a video statement shared shortly after the Hamilton attack, Shafiq said protesters who occupied the building had “crossed a new red line.”
The incident also led to a crowd of angry students practicing the traditional “primal scream” during finals week in front of Shafiq’s official residence.
Students chanted “resign” and “shame” at the Morningside Heights parsonage and demanded that the Colombian government withdraw from Israel.
In an op-ed published in the Financial Times this week, Shafiq urged other university officials to “engage in some serious soul searching” in the aftermath of the protests that have spread across the country.
“We need to better define the line between the free speech rights of some members of our community and the rights of others to receive an education free of discrimination and harassment,” she said. wrote.
Columbia did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Shafik’s decision to skip class or whether he would not attend any other graduation ceremonies.
