Columbia drops commencement ceremony for smaller events

Columbia University cancelled its main, university-wide commencement ceremony scheduled for May 15 in favour of smaller, schoolbased events, a decision that follows weeks of pro-Palestinian protests that roiled the Ivy League School.

“We have decided to make the centrepiece of our commencement activities our Class Days and schoollevel ceremonies, where students are honoured individually alongside their peers, rather than the university-wide ceremony that is scheduled for May 15,” Columbia said in a statement, calling the past few weeks “incredibly difficult for our community.”

The protests at Columbia, which drew national attention, have inspired similar demonstrations at dozens of universities around the US. Students have called for a ceasefire in Gaza and have demanded their schools divest from companies with ties to Israel.

Other universities follow

The turmoil on campuses has prompted several colleges and universities across the United States to relocate, modify, or cancel commencement ceremonies altogether.

In April, the University of Southern California also called off its main-stage ceremony, a week after cancelling the valedictorian speech by a Muslim student who said she was silenced by anti-Palestinian hatred.

Columbia said yesterday it had consulted with student leaders in deciding how to handle graduation. The majority of the ceremonies, which had been set to take place on its upper Manhattan campus, where most of the protests have taken place, will take place at the main athletic complex, about 8km away.