Colombia University officials announced Thursday that the students were suspended or expelled who occupied a campus building during a protest in favor of Palestine last year, while some of the students’ degrees were temporarily canceled.
The university said in a campus email that the judicial board had sentenced the students who had occupied the Hamilton Hall in protest against Gaza aggression in the last spring.
However, Columbia University did not specify how many students were expelled, suspended, or their degrees were canceled, but said the steps were decided on the basis of ‘review of the intensity of behavior’.
The decision came after a lengthy investigation, while the university is under severe pressure as famous Palestinian student activist Mahmoud Khalil was arrested by federal immigration officials last week.
US President Donald Trump said the arrest would be ‘the beginning of several further arrests’.
At the same time, the Trump administration has deprived Columbia University of federal funding of more than $ 40 million, accusing the university of failing to take action against the Jewish enmity.
Republican members of the Congress say that the university’s failure to take any drastic action against the students involved in the Hamilton Hall incident is proof of its poor performance.
The occupation of the building took place when a protest tent was set up at the university, which led to a movement for protests in other universities all over the United States.
On April 30, 2024, a small group of students, along with their peers, closed themselves inside the Hamilton Hall with furniture and locks.
At the request of the university administration, the New York police raided the campus the next night and arrested dozens of protesters on the campus along with the occupation protesters.
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At a judicial hearing in June, Manhattan’s District Attorney’s Office said it would not file a criminal case against 31 out of 46 persons arrested for infiltration into the administrative building.
However, students still faced action and potential dismissal on the basis of a violation of the Code of Conduct by the University.
The sentences announced by the university on Thursday were heard after several months of hearing, supervised by the University Judicial Board (UJB).
Some students, who participated in the protest but did not occupy the building, were told that they would not take further action, and they could return after their previous suspension.
The university statement said: “In connection with other incidents in the previous Bihar, the UJB acknowledged pre -disciplinary acts.”
These disciplinary operations became the focus of the Republican members of the Congress, which warned the university administration that the federal funding of billions of dollars could be jeopardized if there was no strict action against the students involved in the protest.
On Thursday, Mahmud Khalil and seven other students, identified as fake names, filed a lawsuit that aims to prevent a Congress committee from obtaining a record of students from Columbia University and its affiliated women’s educational institution, Bernard College.
The case has been filed in Manhattan’s Federal Court against Columbia University, Bernard College, Republican House Committee for Education and Manpower, and its Chairman Republican Member Congress Tim Walberg.
In the case, the Congress has been requested to issue a judicial order (injunction) to prevent the Congress from obtaining students from receiving the records from these educational institutions and to prevent universities from following these orders.
Last month, the committee sent a letter to Columbia and Bernard University, demanding that they provide students’ records, otherwise their federal funding could be at risk.
The plaintiffs took the stand in their complaint that the committee was abusing its powers to “suppress expression and commitment, just on what theory is being presented”, and this investigation is at risk of a serious amendment rights.
In a statement emailed by the committee spokesman, Walberg said: “This case will not change our position.”
He added that information sought regarding students’ records is’ very important to consider the legislation on this matter ‘and also that’ educational institutions must be responsible for their failures, as they have failed to stop the growing hostility in our educational institutions. ‘
A spokesman for Bernard College did not immediately comment, while Columbia University refused to discuss the ongoing legal proceedings.
In addition, a recent new disciplinary committee set up has registered several new cases against the students – including Mahmoud Khalil – who has criticized Israel, which supporters of freedom of expression have expressed concern. However, Khalil was not among the protesters who were accused of occupying the Hamilton Hall.
The announcement of the expulsion of the students received the support of some teachers, including the Chairman of the Electrical Engineering Department and Gul Zomsmin, a member of the Task Force for Judaism, Columbia University.
He said in a post on Social Media Platform X:
“Eventually, to prove that the results of breaking the university laws are an important first step to return to the basic mission of research and teaching.”
