Columbia U. punishes over 70 students for antisemitic rioting

Most of the students have been either expelled or suspended for taking part in disruptions on campus over the last year.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Columbia University punished more than 70 students Monday for the parts they played in antisemitic rioting on campus over the last year.

After an investigation by its University Judicial Board (UJB), about two-thirds of the anti-Israel protesters will be suspended for a period of one to three years, with the majority receiving a two-year ban, the New York Post reported.

“Our institution must focus on delivering on its academic mission for our community,” a Columbia spokesperson said in a statement on the matter. “And to create a thriving academic community, there must be respect for each other and the institution’s fundamental work, policies and rules.”

“Disruptions to academic activities are in violation of University policies and Rules, and such violations will necessarily generate consequences,” the statement added.

”The speed with which our updated UJB system has offered an equitable resolution to the community and students involved is a testament to the hard work of this institution to improve its processes.”

Whether the process was “speedy” could be questioned.

The most recent disruption occurred on May 7, when scores of students, many masked and wearing keffiyehs, broke into the main Butler Library, shouting mantras such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and “Intifada Revolution,” which most Jews consider calls for Israel’s destruction.

Video footage showed individuals having physical confrontations that led to minor injuries, and pictures uploaded to social media showed graffiti painted on library walls and furniture including the slogan “Free Gaza.”

The scene was “absolutely shocking and intimidating,” said one student, who was studying for her finals in the library along with hundreds of others.

The administration eventually called in the police, who made more than 80 arrests, and the university gave many of the rioters interim suspensions, with then-acting President Claire Shipman condemning the violence.

Columbia said that penalties from this event included probation and suspensions for lighter offenses, and expulsions and even degree revocations for those more heavily involved.

However, some of the students were reportedly now being disciplined for their actions over weeks spent in an illegal encampment on campus in the spring of 2024, which had been set up to vilify Israel over its war against the Gaza Strip’s Hamas terrorist organization.

Jewish students were terrorized while walking to and from their classes, verbally and even physically assaulted, and made to feel unsafe in their dormitory rooms, with the school administration staying silent for weeks instead of moving against those breaking the university’s Code of Conduct — as well as the law, in many cases.

The Trump administration has pulled hundreds of millions of dollars in grants from Columbia and other elite universities over their non-action in the face of continued antisemitic protests, demanding that they fix what the White House sees as discriminatory policies against Jewish students.