Columbia University expels anti-Israel students for last year’s building takeover
Other activists are suspended or have their degrees revoked; campus anti-Israel groups claim 22 punished; announcement comes with school under fire from Trump administration
Luke Tress is The Times of Israel's New York correspondent.
NEW YORK — Columbia University in New York City announced Thursday that it had expelled, suspended and revoked the degrees of student activists who forcibly took over a campus building last spring during raucous anti-Israel protests.
The punishments came as the university reels after federal agents detained a campus activist, Mahmoud Khalil, and the Trump administration stripped hundreds of millions of dollars from Columbia due to antisemitism allegations.
The university’s judicial board issued “multi-year suspensions, temporary degree revocations, and expulsions” for the takeover of Hamilton Hall, Columbia said in a statement. There were no details about the number of students punished.
“Columbia is committed to enforcing the University’s Rules and Policies and improving our disciplinary processes,” the statement said.
The campus coalition of anti-Israel groups, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, claimed that 22 students had been sanctioned. The group said on social media that nine students from Columbia and its affiliate Barnard College had been expelled.
A union representing student workers said its president, Grant Miner, had been expelled.
Jewish campus leaders — who have long criticized Columbia for what they see as lax enforcement of campus rules and discipline — applauded Columbia for Thursday’s announcement.
Brian Cohen, the head of the college’s Kraft Center for Jewish Life, said on X, “This ruling is an important first step in righting the wrongs of the past year and a half.”
During the protest last year, students forcibly occupied a campus building, Hamilton Hall, and refused to leave. The university administration called the police to clear the building, resulting in dozens of arrests. Most of the charges were dropped, though.
Jewish and Israeli students and faculty said the protest movement included antisemitic harassment and created a hostile atmosphere for them on campus.
Congressional Republicans have criticized the university for not disciplining more student protesters and last month demanded the university turn over all disciplinary records related to anti-Zionist activism.
On Thursday, Khalil and seven other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit seeking to block Congressional investigators from obtaining the records.
Last week, the Trump administration cut $400 million in funding to Columbia due to antisemitism and threatened to slash billions more. A federal antisemitism task force is also set to visit the university and nine other schools around the US.
Khalil, originally from Syria, is a green card holder and a recent graduate. He was a leader of the Columbia University Apartheid Divest and was detained outside his home in New York on Saturday.
The White House has said Khalil is being deported for distributing pro-Hamas propaganda. Days before his detention, he attended a protest at Barnard where activists distributed Hamas material. Federal immigration laws prohibit non-citizens from espousing support for terror groups.
Khalil’s supporters say he is being persecuted for his activism, in violation of free speech protections.
The detention has set off furious backlash and daily protests in New York.
On Wednesday, hundreds gathered outside the federal court in Manhattan where Khalil’s lawyers are battling his detention. On Thursday, Jewish anti-Zionists stormed Trump Tower to demand Khalil’s release.
Dozens of Muslim and anti-Israel activist groups announced a Friday protest outside Columbia’s gates.
