Columbia University cancels main commencement after protests that roiled campus for weeks

Officials at the Ivy League school in New York City said it will instead focus on school-level graduation ceremonies amid ongoing pro-Palestinian protests.“Based on feedback from our students, we have decided to focus attention on our Class Days and school-level graduation ceremonies, where students are honored individually alongside their peers, and to forego the university-wide ceremony that is scheduled for May 15,” officials at the Ivy League school in upper Manhattan said in a statement.

Noting that the past few weeks have been “incredibly difficult” for the community, the school said in its announcement that it made the decision after discussions with students. “Our students emphasized that these smaller-scale, school-based celebrations are most meaningful to them and their families,” officials said. “They are eager to cross the stage to applause and family pride and hear from their school’s invited guest speakers.

Most of the ceremonies that had been scheduled for the south lawn of the main campus, where encampments were taken down last week, will take place about 5 miles north at Columbia’s sports complex, officials said.Student protesters gather in protest inside their encampment on the Columbia University campus, Monday, April 29, 2024, in New York.

Columbia had already canceled in-person classes. More than 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had camped out on Columbia’s green were arrested last month, and similar encampments sprouted up at universities around the country as schools struggled with where toFILE - Pro-Israel demonstrators gather for the "Bring Them Home Now" rally outside the Columbia University, April 26, 2024, in New York.The protests stem from the conflict that started Oct.

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