NEW YORK: Columbia University has imposed disciplinary actions, including expulsions and degree revocations, on nearly 80 students involved in anti-Israel protests on campus.
The sanctions follow months of tension as the university negotiates with the Trump administration to restore $400 million in federal funding cuts.
The university stated that the punishments stem from a library sit-in in May and an encampment during alumni weekend in spring 2024.
Disciplinary measures include probation, suspensions ranging from one to three years, degree revocations, and expulsions.
Columbia, a focal point of nationwide campus protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, has faced pressure from the Trump administration over alleged anti-Semitism.
The university has agreed to policy reforms to regain federal funding, a move that has angered many students.
The student group Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), which advocates for cutting financial ties with Israel, condemned the sanctions as excessive.
“We will not be deterred. We are committed to the struggle for Palestinian liberation,“ the group said.
Harvard University, another Ivy League institution, is also contesting federal funding cuts in court.
Columbia’s latest sanctions mark the conclusion of disciplinary actions from the 2024 protests. – AFP
