Palestine protesters burn diplomas and clash with police at Columbia graduation

Independent

21-05-2025

Students and activists in the Palestine solidarity movement protested Columbia University's graduation on Wednesday, with some demonstrators just off-campus burning or tearing up diplomas.
Outside the New York City campus, which was surrounded with metal barricades and police, a line of about 100 demonstrators pushed back and forth with officers as police yelled, 'Get back!'
Two people were arrested and given desk-appearance tickets, which are generally issued for low-level offenses, the NYPD told The Independent.
One of the arrested appeared to be wearing Columbia graduation robes.
During the Wednesday ceremony, where some new graduates wore Palestinian keffiyeh scarves over their regalia, acting university president Claire Shipman was booed and met with chants of 'free Palestine.'
Others at the event wore stoles commemorating the Israeli hostages remaining in Hamas custody.
Shipman was booed at a smaller graduation ceremony the day before.
The university has been at the center of the U.S. campus protest movement since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, 2023, as well as the Trump administration's attempts to arrest immigrant activists and punish universities for allegedly not doing enough to counter antisemitism that took place during the protests.
In March, Columbia largely agreed to a series of administration demands to gain access to $400 million in threatened federal funding.
That same month, Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia graduate and U.S. legal permanent resident, was arrested by immigration agents at a campus apartment in what has become a high-profile civil rights case. He remains in a Louisiana immigration detention facility, where he is challenging his arrest on constitutional grounds.
During her speech on Wednesday, Shipman, who stepped in after Columbia rotated through two different presidents during the protests and their aftermath, acknowledged Khalil's detention.
'We firmly believe that our international students have the same rights to freedom of speech as everyone else and they should not be targeted by the government for exercising that right,' Shipman said.
Protesters have continued to push Columbia to cut investments with companies tied to the Israeli war effort, which has killed over 53,000 people in Gaza, including a large portion of civilians.
Earlier this month, over 70 protesters were arrested for briefly occupying a campus library.
In March, Columbia grads gathered at a campus alumni event and tore up their diplomas.