Columbia University disciplines students for on-campus Gaza protests

The university sanctioned dozens of students who participated in pro-Gaza protests on campus, according to a Tuesday statement. Disciplinary actions included probation, suspensions of at least one year, degree revocations, and expulsions, the school said. The sanctions specifically impacted students who participated in a disruption of Butler Library in May and participants in the pro-Gaza encampment last spring, the school added. Columbia must focus on creating a thriving academic community that's based on respect for one another, according to the statement. Disrupting academic activities violates university policies, and there will be necessary consequences for such violations, the school added.

How many students were disciplined? The university did not state the number of students disciplined, though footage from both events showed dozens of protesters participating. CU Apartheid Divest, the pro-Palestinian club responsible for the protests, released a Tuesday statement claiming that nearly 80 students were suspended or expelled. Columbia’s newspaper, The Columbia Spectator, reported that a majority of disciplined students received a two-year suspension. The disciplinary action came several months after the university began working with the Trump administration following severe funding cuts.

Dig deeper: Read my previous report about the Trump administration’s federal task force investigating anti-Semitism on college campuses.