Columbia’s president had earlier said that she did not want to deprive students of an in-person celebration after many graduated high school during the pandemic.
After clearing an encampment and arresting protesters, Columbia had asked the New York Police Department to keep a presence on its campus until after commencement.Credit…Bing Guan for The New York Times
After weeks of student protests, Columbia University announced Monday that it would be canceling its main commencement ceremony, and holding smaller ceremonies for each of its 19 colleges, mostly at its athletics complex some 100 blocks north.
The university’s main campus has been in a state of near lockdown since last Tuesday, when hundreds of police officers swarmed Hamilton Hall to remove some 46 pro-Palestinian protesters who had occupied the building and arrested more than 100 people protesting in and around the campus.
Dozens of police officers are still on and around campus, leaving questions as to how some 15,000 graduates and their guests could easily be admitted to the area around it for the May 15 commencement.
Nemat Shafik, Columbia’s president, had previously cited her desire to host the graduation on campus as one of the key reasons that she called in the police on April 30 to remove both the occupiers from Hamilton Hall and the large tent encampment that had taken over a central lawn for two weeks.
But on Monday, Columbia officials explained that security was one of the main reasons for canceling.
“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,” the university wrote in a statement.
The school said that it was still considering holding a “festive event on May 15” instead of the main ceremony, and that it would follow up with more details. The celebrations for the different colleges will begin on Friday and run through May 16.
“Holding a large commencement ceremony on our campus presented security concerns that unfortunately proved insurmountable,” Ben Chang, a university spokesman, said. He added that the school had made extensive efforts to identify an alternative venue and was unable to locate one that could host such a large event. “Like our students, we are deeply disappointed with this outcome.”
The main campus quad has become an emotionally charged site as the location of the protest encampment and arrests. The 21-acre football and other playing fields at 218th Street in Inwood, known as the Baker Athletics Complex, is more neutral ground.
But the decision was also about capacity. In its announcement, the school said that rather than divide its resources to keep both the school-level events and the main commencement ceremony safe, it would instead focus “on those school ceremonies and on keeping them safe, respectful, and running smoothly.”
Parents from around the world will be flying in to celebrate commencement with their graduates, which include those completing the undergraduate college, law school, medical school and many other degree programs.
Many of this year’s graduating seniors, officials had pointed out, also had their high school graduations canceled because of Covid-19 precautions, and many had started their college experience in remote learning.
“We also do not want to deprive thousands of students and their families and friends of a graduation celebration” Dr. Shafik said last week. “Many of them are the first in their families to earn a university degree. We owe it to all of our graduates and their loved ones to honor their achievement.”
At other universities around the nation where protests have broken out, administrators have also canceled or altered commencement events, out of concern over renewed protests.
Typically at the end of the school year, the heart of Columbia’s Morningside Heights campus becomes a sweeping venue with bleacher seating and thousands of graduates arrayed around the steps of Low Library. The university president takes center stage, officially conferring the degrees on the graduates from the school’s different colleges.
Two weeks ago, the University released a video of several graduates in their blue-and-white robes, explaining how important an in-person ceremony was to them.
But the way the administration has handled its pro-Palestinian demonstrators, including by calling in police to crack down and make more than 200 arrests on two separate days, has proved to be deeply unpopular with many students and faculty. Officials also became concerned that an event meant to unite the campus would divide it further.
The commencement decision also caused anger, however, including from some of the Jewish students who had felt most targeted by the protests.
“For the last three-plus weeks, I’ve had to listen as students on campus and protesters off campus shout for Zionists to get out of Columbia,” said Josie Toubin, the co-president of an organization of Jewish students at Columbia’s business school. “I am a Zionist, so they are yelling for me to leave.”
“Moving graduation is another action that punishes Jewish students without justification,” she said, adding that the main campus has been cleared of protesters so graduation should be held there. “Don’t isolate us to a site 100 blocks north of campus as a response to the unrest on campus.”
Tazia Mohammad, a freshman living on Columbia’s campus, was also upset, particularly with the ongoing police presence.
“It’s hypocritical to say you’re acting for the graduating class and then cancel their commencement,” she said of the crackdowns Dr. Shafik authorized. “It’s just silly.”
Khepera Lyons-Clark, 22, a senior at Barnard College, which is affiliated with Columbia University and normally participates in its main commencement ceremony, said the decision to cancel commencement seems to have demoralized students more.
“I just don’t understand what the motive is,” she said.
On Monday, Gov. Kathy Hochul criticized Columbia’s decision to cancel its main graduation ceremony. The governor said she had offered her support in devising security plans for the upcoming ceremonies at all New York colleges.
“One thing I did not want to do is have the lives and the families and all the young people who’ve worked so hard disrupted,” Ms. Hochul said during remarks at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles. “I wanted them to have the benefit of walking across the stage. They earned it.”
The governor added that she had spoken to leaders at N.Y.U., Cornell University, City College and the State University of New York on Monday morning and those schools all confirmed they would proceed with graduation ceremonies as planned.
