Columbia University said Thursday it imposed various punishments on students who occupied campus buildings last spring during pro-Palestinian protests.
As Reuters reported, the decision comes a week after the Trump administration revealed it had cancelled $400 million in federal grants and contracts as it was described as a university’s inadequate response to anti-Semitism on campus.
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Katrina Armstrong, interim president of Columbia University, called the administration’s concerns legal and said her agency is working with the government to deal with them. Campus protests and pro-Israeli protesters elicited allegations of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and racism, Reuters reported.
“The Judiciary Committee has decided its findings and issued sanctions on students from their multi-year suspensions, temporary revocations and expulsions related to the occupation of Hamilton Hall last spring.”
The university did not disclose the identity of the disciplinary students or how many students were punished. Columbia University has become the focus of anti-Israel protests spreading across US university campuses.
These protests broke out after a Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023 and subsequent US-backed Israeli attacks in Gaza. Protesters called for the university to separate from Israel’s interests and the United States to end military aid to Israel.
The Trump administration has vowed to seriously crack down on labeling Pro Hamas’ protesters.
Katrina Armstrong, interim president of Columbia University, said the government calls it legitimate concerns and that the agency is working to address them.
Over the weekend, federal immigration agents detained Colombian student Mahmoud Khalil, the leader of last year’s campus protests, where the administration is calling for deportation. The administration said his detention was the first of many who want a lot. Khalil’s deportation has been temporarily blocked by a federal judge.
(Includes input from Reuters)
