Columbia University is canceling its university-wide commencement ceremony on May 15 after weeks of disruptive and violent anti-Israel protests on campus, officials at the Ivy League school said Monday.
Instead, the university is opting for “smaller-scale, school-based celebrations.”
“We have decided to make the centerpiece of our commencement activities our class days and school-level ceremonies, where students are honored individually alongside their peers, rather than the university-wide ceremony that is scheduled for May 15,” the school said in an announcement.
The pared-back ceremonies will also no longer be held on the Ivy League’s iconic South Lawn – the same location where hundreds of protesters were arrested for refusing to leave a massive tent encampment erected there.
The decision to nix the ceremony was made after consulting with graduating students, the university said.
“Our graduating students, their families, and their loved ones are very focused on our upcoming commencement celebrations. We are as well. We are determined to give our students the celebration they deserve, and that they want,” the announcement said.
“Our students emphasized that these smaller-scale, school-based celebrations are most meaningful to them and their families.”
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