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Columbia cancels commencement as protests continue to roil US campuses
Insights from The New York Times, The Columbia Daily Spectator, and The Wall Street Journal
The News
Columbia University has canceled its main commencement ceremony, following weeks of pro-Palestinian protests that have roiled its campus and sparked a wave of similar demonstrations across the nation.
“Holding a large commencement ceremony on our campus presented security concerns that unfortunately proved insurmountable,” Columbia said in a statement Monday, adding that it looked for an alternate venue but couldn’t find one large enough to hold the May 15 event. The school will still host smaller ceremonies for specific programs.
It comes as universities nationwide grapple with how to preserve the ceremonies while ensuring guest safety as pro-Palestinian demonstrations continue. More than 2,000 students and activists have been arrested across the country since the protests began, and counterprotesters have provoked violence at some universities.
The University of Southern California has also canceled its mainstage ceremony, while The University of Michigan opted to designate specific areas for protesters outside of its commencement ceremony.
SIGNALS
Columbia president previously said she called the cops to preserve commencement
Embattled Columbia President Minouche Shafik previously cited her desire to preserve the graduation as a key reason for calling the police to remove protesters who had occupied a university building and dismantle the main encampment. “We cannot have one group dictate terms and attempt to disrupt important milestones like graduation to advance their point of view,” she said on April 22, days after she called the police to disperse the encampment.
Shafik’s decision could further affect her currently unpopular standing on campus. A conducted by The Columbia Spectator and New York Magazine found that 77 percent of students, faculty and staff polled do not think Shafik’s administration has handled the demonstrations well; 57 percent felt the use of police to clear protesters was “totally unwarranted.”
For many students, this marks their second canceled graduation
Many members of the class of ‘24 didn’t have in-person high school graduations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making colleges’ decisions to cancel commencements sting even more. “I am very disappointed to once again be deprived of a typical graduation experience,” one Columbia senior told The Wall Street Journal. “I feel like they had other options,” another senior said. “It feels like [the university is] doing this to save their own reputations.”
Shafik addressed the sad irony in a video message: “For those of you who are seniors, you’re finishing college the same way you started: online,” she said.
GOP seizes on commencement cancellations
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, who has been sharply critical of the Columbia demonstrations and how the university has handled them, excoriated Shafik for the decision to cancel commencement. Shafik and other administrators have “displayed a shocking unwillingness to control their campus,” he said, allowing “outside agitators and terrorist-sympathizing students and faculty to rewrite campus rules and spew vile, anti-Jewish aggression.” Johnson said Shafik should be immediately removed as president because it is “abundantly clear” that she “would rather cede control to Hamas supporters than restore order.”
The White House also weighed in on the cancellations, albeit much more mildly. “It is unfortunate that a small group of people went too far and cost their classmates this important event,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Monday.
