Columbia University conducted the first of its small-scale commencement ceremonies on Sunday, but the affair was perhaps predictably overshadowed by the flashy gestures of numerous pro-Palestinian student protestors, who used the occasion to express their opposition to the State of Israel and its ongoing war on Hamas in Gaza.
At the ceremony, conducted only weeks after police dispersed a massive and rapidly escalating campus protest, Columbia University graduates wore zip-tie handcuffs, held pro-Palestinian signs, and even tore up a diploma on stage during last week’s commencement ceremonies.
Columbia University graduate rips up her diploma on stage in protest of Columbia University’s alleged “complicity in the ongoing genocide in Gaza.”
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) May 13, 2024
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The protesting students were recorded crossing the platform on Friday to receive their degrees during ceremonies that had been reduced after weeks of anti-Israel demonstrations on campus. Their expressions of disapproval and resistance were documented on the university’s livestream of the event, which features a number of attention-catching protests.
In one of the most confrontational acts, Tarsis Salome, a Columbia social work graduate, marched forward with zip-tied hands raised above her head as the audience cheered her on. She then faced the crowd and tore her diploma to shreds, as shown in a livestream of the ceremony.
Another social work graduate, Maliha Fairooz, seemed to have the name of a Hamas leader, Mazen Jamal Al-Natsheh, written on her cap as she accepted her degree with zip-tied hands.
Veda Kamra and Hilary Margaret Elizabeth Ludlow, wearing keffiyehs, received loud applause while displaying a “Free Palestine” sign and handcuffed hands. Others also followed this trend, presenting themselves as apparent prisoners in front of the audience.
These defiant acts followed Columbia’s decision to cancel its university-wide commencement in favor of school-based ceremonies due to security concerns after a tent encampment on campus turned chaotic. NYPD officers stormed the campus twice last month to remove disruptive demonstrators and a pro-terror group that illegally occupied the university’s Hamilton Hall building. More than 200 protesters were arrested and taken away during these incidents.
The decision to cancel the traditional ceremony, which usually attracts over 50,000 attendees, was made after consulting with graduating students, according to university officials.
“Holding a large commencement ceremony on our campus presented security concerns that unfortunately proved insurmountable,” school spokesman Ben Chang said last week, per the New York Post. “Like our students, we are deeply disappointed with this outcome.”
As a result, none of the school’s smaller ceremonies will be held on its iconic South Lawn, where such events are usually staged. Most ceremonies are taking place about five miles away at Columbia’s sports complex.
