The sanctions come days after U.S. immigration agents arrested a former Columbia University graduate student who led pro-Palestinian protests last year.
Columbia University said on March 13 that it has expelled or suspended some students who took over its Hamilton Hall last year amid pro-Palestinian protests, and temporarily rescinded the diplomas of others who have graduated.
In a campus-wide email, the university said its judicial board levied a range of sanctions against the students who occupied the building last year while protesting the Israel-Hamas war.
Those sanctions include multi-year suspensions, temporary degree revocations, and expulsions, Columbia wrote in a statement on its website. It said the return of suspended students will be overseen by the Columbia’s Life Office.
“Columbia is committed to enforcing the University’s Rules and Policies and improving our disciplinary processes,” the statement reads.
The school did not say how many students were expelled, suspended, or had their degrees revoked. In the campus-wide email, it said the administrative actions were based on “evaluation of the severity of behaviors.”
The Trump administration had said on March 7 that it was pulling $400 million in grants and contracts from Columbia University, citing the school’s failure to combat anti-Semitism on its campus.
Columbia recently launched an investigation into students engaging in pro-Palestinian protests last year, amid threats of funding losses from the federal government.
On Sunday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University graduate student and green card holder who led the pro-Palestinian encampment protest at the school in 2024. Agents said his arrest follows President Donald Trump’s executive orders combating anti-Semitism in colleges and universities.
Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said Khalil “led activities aligned to Hamas,” the U.S.-designated terrorist group that triggered the war in Gaza with its large-scale assault on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Trump said it was the “first arrest of many to come” in a Monday post on his Truth Social platform.
“We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it,” Trump wrote.
“Many are not students, they are paid agitators. We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country—never to return again.”
By Jacob Burg
