The school year may be winding down, but the tensions within higher education are coming to a head.

Columbia University gathered for its first full campus graduation ceremony since 2023, tassels and all. Pro-Palestinian graduates and other supporters were active during the event, as they have been during most of the school’s large gatherings since Israel’s bombardment of Gaza escalated in the wake of the October 7, 2024, Hamas attacks. 

Ever since Columbia students galvanized a now nationwide call for colleges and universities to divest from Israel, the campus has become an epicenter of protest, as well as federal scrutiny. Indeed, President Donald Trump’s interventions in academia began with his largely successful threat to Columbia’s funding earlier this year. His administration has also targeted citizens, green card holders and permanent residents on campuses for pro-Palestinian views. 

At this year’s commencement, Columbia graduates chose to protest in varied ways. Some burned their diplomas. Others wore keffiyehs over their caps and gowns. A mass of voices chanted the name of Mahmoud Khalil, a student who likely would have been present if not for federal agents infiltrating his student housing and detaining him in Louisiana, where he is still held today. Some graduates also wore recognition of the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas. 

The crowd vehemently booed Claire Shipman, the school’s acting president, while she gave a speech at graduation ceremonies Tuesday. Shipman took over in March as the third school president in three years. She was booed again at Wednesday’s ceremonies, The Independent reported.

“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 Wednesday.

Yet the university knew students were in danger and sat idly by, as in Mohsen Mahdawi’s case. The Palestinian activist, who is in the process of becoming a citizen, played a role in the early campus organizing. In the weeks leading up to his eventual arrest, he reached out to the school for help multiple times, Zeteo reports.

In late April, a judge ordered that Mahdawi be released — in time for him to be present at Columbia’s graduation. 

“I am on a university campus, not in prison. I am in graduation clothes, not in my prison clothes,” Mahdawi said in a video taken at the ceremony. “I am celebrating here today.” 

A stone’s throw outside the school’s gates, more protesters gathered and chanted amid police presence. Two people were arrested, including one person wearing Columbia’s graduation regalia, per The Independent.

Graduation week at Columbia also coincided with the Trump administration’s announcement Thursday that it will bar Harvard University from enrolling international students, unless the school submits photo and video materials of those students’ campus activities, including protests. Even then, the revocation could stay in place.

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