Columbia University suspends and expels dozens of students over anti-Israel unrest

Penalties come as the university faces heavy US government pressure to rein in campus antisemitism, with the loss of research funding

By Luke Tress

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23 July 2025, 1:52 am

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Luke Tress is The Times of Israel's New York correspondent.

Students sit on the front steps of Low Memorial Library on the Columbia University campus in New York City, February 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)

Columbia University said Tuesday that it sanctioned students for a library takeover in May as well as a protest encampment in the spring of 2024.

A statement from the Ivy League school in New York City said the sanctions include expulsions, probation, degree revocations and suspensions ranging from one to three years. Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a coalition of anti-Israel student groups, said nearly 80 students were suspended or expelled.

The university said it does not comment on individual cases and does not announce the number of students who are being punished.

The penalties come as the university has faced heavy government pressure to rein in campus antisemitism. Since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel, Columbia has seen frequent anti-Israel and in some cases antisemitic protests. An anti-Israel student encampment on the campus in 2024 sparked a nationwide movement and ended with police storming a building that had been forcibly taken over by protesters.

The school was thrust back into the spotlight this year when immigration authorities arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian protest leader at the university. The Trump administration also canceled $400 million in grants and contracts with the school earlier this year due to campus antisemitism. Columbia has entered negotiations with the administration to recover the funding.

Critics of the administration, such as New York Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, have accused Trump of exploiting the problem of antisemitism to attack perceived opponents in higher education.

In recent months, the school has taken steps to address the issue. It issued similar sanctions in March against students who were involved in the 2024 building takeover.

Pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protesters gather near an area where people were being taken into custody near Columbia University campus in New York, April 30, 2024. (AP/Craig Ruttle)

During the library protest in May 2025, anti-Israel activists occupied the university’s Butler Library as students were studying for final exams. During the protest, Columbia called in police to clear the demonstrators from the building, resulting in 80 arrests. The university had previously put more than 65 students on interim suspensions for the incident.

Earlier this week, Columbia reformed its disciplinary policy, giving the provost’s office authority that had previously belonged to the university senate. Jewish Columbia community members hailed the move as a major step toward holding protesters accountable.

Last week, Columbia announced a series of measures to combat antisemitism on campus.

“Columbia has more progress to make before Jewish students can truly feel safe on its campus,” US Representative Tim Walberg, a Michigan Republican who chairs the House of Representatives’ Education and Workforce Committee, said in a statement. “We will continue to investigate antisemitism at Columbia and other universities and develop legislative solutions to address this persistent problem. Our nation’s institutions of higher education must fulfill their legal obligations under federal antidiscrimination law.”