Columbia cancels university-wide graduation ceremony

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Columbia University has cancelled the main graduation ceremony it had planned for next week amid rising concerns that continued pro-Palestinian student protests could pose safety concerns on campuses across the US.

Columbia said it would abandon its annual university-wide commencement ceremony, scheduled for May 15 on the south lawn of its main Manhattan campus, which has seen protests, a student encampment and arrests by the New York City Police after the brief occupation of a campus building last week.

Instead, it plans to focus on smaller ceremonies for its individual schools, most to be held at its Baker Athletics Complex, far from its main Morningside undergraduate campus. It said the decision followed consultation with students who had indicated the smaller celebrations were “most meaningful to them and their families”.

The decision caps weeks of upheaval at the Ivy League school, and follows the University of Southern California’s decision to cancel its own main graduation ceremony. On Monday the interim president of the University of Pennsylvania warned that he may need to take more drastic action to clear an encampment on the campus’s main College Green.

“Every day the encampment exists, the campus is less safe,” wrote Larry Jameson, who took over leadership of the Ivy League school after his predecessor, Liz Magill, was forced to resign over her handling of the crisis, sparked by the Israel-Hamas war. “Some have aimed to characterise this as a peaceful protest. It is not,” Jameson said.

Alan Garber, the interim president of Harvard who replaced Claudine Gay after she resigned at the start of this year over her handling of demonstrations, also called for the dismantling of the encampment on its main square.

He warned of “disciplinary consequences” for those who continued to take part in protests after concerns over intimidation, harassment and disruption which threatened study, exams and preparations for Harvard’s commencement ceremony on May 23.

Even institutions such as the University of Chicago, which has long stressed its commitment to free speech, have warned of tougher measures against protesters, following concerns over conflict and damage to property.

Some students had hoped Columbia’s May 15 ceremonies could serve as a moment for its embattled president, Minouche Shafik, to bring the community together.

One student enrolled in history and Jewish thought said Shafik could use the opportunity to “teach” students about why violence sparked by the protests was “wrong”. When asked whether he thought the protesters would be receptive to that message, he said “no” — but “she needs to try anyway”.

The university’s actions have triggered a series of copycat encampments and demonstrations followed by police interventions at other institutions from Georgia to California, in echoes of demonstrations during the 1968 Vietnam protests in the US.

Administrators are concerned about further disruption in the build-up to graduation ceremonies this month, when students and their families gather to celebrate the completion of their studies.

Several other elite universities, including Vassar, Brown and Northwestern, have defused demonstrations with agreements to discuss student demands, including divestment from companies linked to Israel’s war against Hamas. None has agreed to sell investments from their endowments.

Columbia did not cite the student protests in its statement on Monday but said its focus in the ceremonies would be “on keeping them safe, respectful, and running smoothly”. It added: “These past few weeks have been incredibly difficult for our community.”