Columbia University Hits Gaza Protesters With Harsh Penalties, Students Vow to Fight On

Columbia University has expelled or suspended nearly 80 students over their participation in antiwar protests against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, a move student activists are calling excessive and politically motivated.

The crackdown, announced this week, includes suspensions lasting up to three years, full-on expulsions, and even revoking academic degrees. The disciplinary wave comes after student protesters staged multiple actions on campus, including an encampment during Alumni Weekend in spring 2024 and an occupation of Butler Library during final exams this May.

In a statement Tuesday, the university said the latest penalties are tied to student actions that disrupted academic operations, particularly the May library protest.

“Disruptions to academic activities are in violation of University policies and rules, and such violations will necessarily generate consequences,” the university wrote, doubling down on its justification.

But student organizers say the punishment goes far beyond any past response to similar protests, especially those unrelated to Palestine.

Columbia’s move comes at a delicate political moment. The university is currently in talks with the Trump administration to recover roughly $400 million in federal funding — money that was cut after the White House accused the school of failing to protect Jewish students from alleged harassment.

Trump’s Education Department has leaned hard on elite universities like Columbia and Harvard, threatening billions in funding over campus protests related to Gaza and Israel. Harvard has already taken the administration to court. Columbia has taken a quieter approach, but this week’s actions suggest it’s feeling the heat.

Claire Shipman, Columbia’s interim president and a former trustee, has come under fire for her handling of the protests. She was loudly booed by students during the May graduation ceremony — a rare public rebuke of university leadership at the Ivy League level.

Columbia was the spark that lit the fuse for a wave of campus encampments and walkouts across the globe last year. The university’s decision to bring in NYPD officers to clear protest sites in 2024, resulting in dozens of arrests, only escalated student anger and attracted wider attention.

Since then, protests have only grown louder. Students have demanded that Columbia divest from companies tied to the Israeli military and end any financial support for Israel’s ongoing campaign in Gaza. The Butler Library occupation during final exams was just the latest escalation, and now the most heavily punished.

Even with students being thrown out and degrees revoked, CUAD says the movement isn’t going anywhere.

With input from Al Jazeera