University officials said disruptions to academic activities are a violation of university policies.
Columbia University has expelled, suspended, and revoked degrees of multiple students for participating in what it described as disruptive protests in spring 2024 and earlier this year.
The Ivy League institution announced the disciplinary actions on Tuesday, stating they were finalized the day prior by its Judicial Board.
The sanctions stem from a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus in spring 2024 and the May 7, 2025, occupation of a reading room in Butler Library. In response to the latter incident, the university placed 71 students on interim suspension in May.
According to the university, a panel composed of professors and administrators reviewed each case over the summer and issued individualized penalties based on specific findings and any prior disciplinary history. While Columbia does not disclose individual student outcomes, the sanctions related to the Butler Library occupation include probation, suspensions ranging from one to three years, expulsion, and revocation of degrees.
Roughly 100 protesters entered the Butler Library reading room on May 7, one of Columbia’s “study days” that students typically spend preparing for their final exams. The protesters chanted, hung Palestinian flags and banners from bookshelves, and wrote slogans on furniture and picture frames, including “Columbia will burn 4 the martyrs,” student newspaper Columbia Spectator reported at the time.
A video shared to X by protest group Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) shows participants wearing masks and Palestinian-style keffiyehs, chanting and clapping to drumbeats amid painted banners throughout the room.
“As long as Columbia funds and profits from imperialist violence, the people will continue to disrupt Columbia’s profits and legitimacy,” CUAD wrote in a statement posted on Substack that day. “Repression breeds resistance—if Columbia escalates repression, the people will continue to escalate disruptions on this campus.”
The New York Police Department arrested 78 people after acting University President Claire Shipman authorized officers to enter the campus to quell the protest. Shipman said two campus safety officers were injured during a crowd surge as protesters tried to force their way into the room, which she described as “outrageous.”
The incident is “especially unacceptable while our students study and prepare for final exams,” Shipman said in a statement at that time.
By Bill Pan
