Columbia disciplines dozens of pro-Palestine protesters
July 23 (UPI) -- Columbia University has disciplined dozens of pro-Palestine protesters amid pressure from the Trump administration, which has targeted the school amid its crackdown on left-leaning ideology.
In a statement Tuesday, the school said the unspecified sanctions were administered after its University Judicial Board determined they were warranted concerning the disruption of Butler Library in May and the Spring 2024 encampment during Alumni Weekend.
The number of students punished was not mentioned, but sources told CNN that it was more than 70.
"While the University does not release individual disciplinary results of any student, the sanctions from Butler Library included probation, suspensions (ranging from one year to three years), degree revocations and expulsions," Columbia said in a statement.
The announcement comes as the school faces pressure from the Trump administration, which has targeted universities -- in particular elite schools -- over left-leaning activism it describes as anti-Israel and anti-Semitic and diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
The Trump administration has claimed protests that erupted across campuses nationwide demonstrating against Israel's war in Gaza were violent and anti-Semitic, and has used them to punish those institutions.
At Columbia, pro-Palestine protesters on May 7 disrupted a portion of Butler, occupying rooms there and vandalizing property, resulting in two public safety officers sustaining injuries.
In March, the Trump administration canceled some $400 million in federal grants and contracts to the university "due to the school's continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students."
Columbia has said the halt in funding forced it to lay off 180 researchers.
Columbia said since March it has responded to the Trump administration by instituting what it has called structural reforms and other improvements.
"Our institution must focus on delivering on its academic mission for our community," Columbia said in the Tuesday statement. "And to create a thriving academic community, there must be respect for each other and the institution's fundamental work, policies and rules. Disruptions to academic activities are in violation of University policy and Rules, and such violations will necessarily generate consequences."
Since returning to power in January, President Donald Trump has used his executive powers to go after the United States universities, in particular its Ivy League schools.
In April, he signed an executive order to reform the university accreditation system to penalize those that employ DEI policies.
Harvard University has taken the Trump administration to court over the president's freezing of more than $2.4 billion in what the school said was a pressure campaign "to force Harvard to submit to the government's control over its academic programs."
This month, it has launched four federal investigations into George Mason University over its alleged DEI policies.
The New York Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations lambasted Columbia on Tuesday for its "grotesquely oppressive" decision to mass-punish its students.
"The students sat in unity to urge ending complicity in an active genocide. Columbia, seemingly bowing to political pressure from the Trump administration, has done more than undermine free speech and higher education. The University has sold its morality, academic integrity and commitment to students," CAIR-NY executive Director Afaf Nasher said in a statement.
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