Colombia it has been canceled university-wide opening Celebrations for “small-scale, school-based celebrations” this month After weeks of pro-Palestinian protests on campus.
“Our students emphasized that these smaller-scale, school-based celebrations are the most meaningful to them and their families,” the university said Monday. ,
They are eager to cross the stage to applause and family pride and to hear their school’s invited guest speakers. As a result, we will focus our resources on those school ceremonies and making them safe, respectful and run smoothly.
The university reached this decision after discussions with student leaders. A university official said that security reasons were cited as the main reason behind this decision. NBC News.
The graduating class will now be honored individually with their peers, rather than at the university-wide ceremony scheduled for May 15.
The university said most ‘Class Days’ and school ceremonies will be held at Columbia’s Baker Athletics Complex instead of on the South Lawn of the Morningside campus, where they were initially scheduled to take place, but the times will remain the same.
Officials said they are considering the possibility of hosting a “celebratory event” on May 15 to replace the larger, formal ceremony.
“The past few weeks have been incredibly difficult for our community,” the university wrote. “We look forward to our graduates coming together and celebrating our fellow Columbians as they and we look to the future. We will share more details in the coming days.”
Other universities have taken steps to cancel their main commencement ceremonies after widespread protests on campuses across the country.
University of Southern California announced It was announced a week ago that it would not hold its main inauguration ceremony next month amid pro-Palestinian protests.
More than 1,000 protesters have been arrested across the country after law enforcement stepped in to disperse demonstrations, occupations and camps on campuses.
The Columbia students are believed to have been arrested last week after a police raid on the New York campus’s Hamilton Hall, which was renamed Hind Hall by protesters. In memory of a six-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza – During late Tuesday evening.
Colombian officials said they have No option other than calling the policeSaying that Hamilton Hall had been “occupied, vandalized and blocked up”.
Just before 2300 local time [GMT 0400] On Tuesday, the NYPD said the building had been cleared and about 100 people had been arrested. He also said that there was no one to resist the arrest and no one was injured.
Mayor Eric Adams later said that police had arrested about 300 people in Columbia and the City College of New York. Many of those arrested were charged with trespassing and criminal mischief.
Earlier in April, more than 100 Columbia students were arrested amid peaceful protests on their campus.