Dozens of Columbia University students suspended or expelled over Gaza protests

Dozens of students at Columbia University have been punished with suspension and expulsion for staging demonstrations and an encampment on campus, calling for an end to Israel's genocide in Gaza and demanding the university's divestment from Israeli companies. 

Columbia for Palestine, a pro-Palestine student group, said that 80 students were informed of their punishment on Monday, with final decisions on their suspensions announced on Tuesday.

The disciplinary action was taken in response to a protest at Butler Library in May 2025, during final exams. According to the university administration, pro-Palestine protesters had also staged an encampment during Alumni Weekend in spring 2024, which disrupted academic activities on campus.

Following the protest, the university administration initiated the probe against the protesters, stating that they had violated the rules.  As a result, participants were banned from campus and partially rusticated.

“We support free speech. But demonstrations and other protest activities that occur inside academic buildings and places where academic activities take place present a direct impediment to maintaining our core academic mission,” read a press statement shared by Columbia University on Tuesday.

Read: Trump administration’s crackdown forces Columbia University to expel pro-Palestinian students

The university argued that the disciplinary action demonstrated a commitment to enforcing campus rules, and stated that it was the first time suspensions had been issued in such large numbers in Columbia’s history.

In March, Trump-led US administration cancelled hundreds of millions of dollars in research grants, critcising how the university handled last year’s pro-Palestine protests. 

It contended that the university’s action to respond to alleged harassment and antisemitism of Jewish and Israeli members was insufficient. 

Protesters, including pro-Palestinian Jewish groups, have accused the Trump administration of falsely linking criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza to antisemitism, and of misrepresenting advocacy for Palestinian rights as support for extremism.

Columbia University adopted a disputed definition of antisemitism linking it to Zionism opposition, and also announced that it would cease cooperation with pro-Palestinian student group Columbia University Apartheid Divest.