'How disgusting': Internet furious as Columbia university drops graduation ceremony amid anti-Israel stir

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Columbia University has decided to hold "smaller-scale, school-based celebrations" on May 15 following weeks of relentless pro-Palestinian protests and counterprotests on campus, officials at the Ivy League school said on Monday, May 6, New York Post reports. 

Another major university that disrupted the anti-Israel agitators, Emory University, announced on Monday that it would move its commencement from its campus precincts in Atlanta to a suburban arena, as per Associated Press. However, other higher educational institutions, including the University of Michigan, Indiana University and Northeastern, have pulled off ceremonies with few disarrays.

University of Columbia's official statement concerning the celebrations

“We have decided to make the centerpiece of our commencement activities our class days and school-level ceremonies, where students are honored individually alongside their peers, rather than the university-wide ceremony that is scheduled for May 15,” the school said in an announcement.

The ceremonies will also no longer be held on Columbia’s iconic South Lawn where several protestors were detained for refusing to leave a massive tent encampment. 

The decision was made after consulting the graduation students

The decision to nix the ceremony was made after consulting with graduating students, the university said. 

“Our graduating students, their families, and their loved ones are very focused on our upcoming commencement celebrations. We are as well. We are determined to give our students the celebration they deserve, and that they want,” the announcement said. “Our students emphasized that these smaller-scale, school-based celebrations are most meaningful to them and their families. As a result, we will focus our resources on those school ceremonies and on keeping them safe, respectful, and running smoothly,” it added.

Columbia University and its ongoing protests 

The Pro-Palestinian protests pullulated in the prestigious university campus on April 17 when demonstrators pitched about 50 tents while demanding a cease-fire in Gaza and insisting the university to divest from any companies that are culpably involved in Israeli abuses against Palestinians.

New York City police officers clad in riot gear arrived on campus on the evening of April 30 at the request of university administrators and forced their way into the barricaded Hamilton Hallwhich protesters had taken over and renamed it Hind’s Hall after a six-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed in Gaza. The encampment was cleared and more than 100 people were arrested, as per NBC.

Columbia University President Minouche Shafik was also affected by the arrests

The arrests have affected the university president Minouche Shafiik as well as some students and faculty at Columbia. In a letter to the New York City Police Department asking for its assistance to clear Hamilton Hall, she said the occupation there “left us no choice.”

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

Internet reacts to Columbia canceling universitywide commencement ceremony

Internet users were also disappointed after the University decided to cancel its universitywide commencement ceremony on May 15 after weeks of disruptive and violent anti-Israel protests. One agitated user vented out his frustration. "So a bunch of people who do not go to school at Columbia University shut down the graduation ceremony. These are some weak administrators," one user wrote on social platform X.

Another tweeted, "No big deal. They're used to it. Their high school graduations were canceled too" with one adding, "I hope they lose a ton of students who leave for safety reasons and others because they don't want to be associated with them." "When the snake eats it own tail" echoed one and another wrote, "We'll be paying their school loans AND their unemployment benefits." 

"How disgusting. Most of these kids also didn’t have an in person high school graduation in 2020," tweeted a user as another echoed, "They should be ashamed for themselves @Columbia

they can put police in there and make sure that none of them get in." 

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.