The actions come as the university seeks to regain $400 million in cancelled federal funding
Columbia University announced new sanctions against student activists on Tuesday, suspending or expelling dozens of students for their participation in pro-Palestine protests.
The suspensions will last between one and three years and will require students to write an apology letter if they wish to return to the university.
The disciplinary proceedings primarily targeted students involved in the takeover of Butler Library to host a teach-in honouring the Palestinian writer Basel al-Araj, who was killed by Israeli forces in 2017. Protesters renamed the library “the Basel al-Araj Popular University”.
“The sanctions issued on July 21 by the University Judicial Board were determined by a UJB panel of professors and administrators who worked diligently over the summer to offer an outcome for each individual based on the findings of their case and prior disciplinary outcomes,” Columbia wrote in a statement.
Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) said in a statement: “Once Barnard joins Columbia in announcing charges, these will be the most suspensions for a single political protest in Columbia campus history and hugely exceed sentencing precedent for teach-ins or non-Palestine-related building occupations.”
Barnard is a Columbia University affiliate.
CUAD alleged that Columbia president Claire Shipman modified disciplinary proceedings to crack down on student protesters.
“[Shipman] illegally restructured the University Judicial Board (UJB) and removed student members and faculty oversight to pursue exceptionally harsh sanctions against its own students,” CUAD said in a statement.
Pro-Palestine protests at Columbia and other universities have come to the forefront since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza, which several countries, as well as many international rights groups and experts, now say qualify as an act of genocide.
More than 100 Palestinians in Gaza, including at least 80 children, have starved to death as a result of Israel’s siege, and more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed at aid distribution sites since March. (more...)
Columbia University suspends or expels almost 80 students for pro-Palestine protest
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