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Columbia University Cancels Commencement Ceremony Amid Pro-Gaza Protests

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Columbia University has canceled its university-wide commencement ceremony scheduled for May 15, citing student feedback. Instead, the university will prioritize "Class Days" and school-level graduation ceremonies. This decision comes amidst ongoing protests against Israel's attack on Gaza, with students calling for a ceasefire and demanding their schools divest from companies with ties to Israel.

    1. We will focus our resources on those school ceremonies and on keeping them safe, respectful, and running smoothly. A great deal of effort is already underway to reach that goal.
    2. Based on feedback from our students, we have decided to focus attention on our Class Days and school-level graduation ceremonies, where students are honored individually alongside their peers, and to forego the university-wide ceremony that is scheduled for May 15.
    3. Our students emphasized that these smaller-scale, school-based celebrations are most meaningful to them and their families.
    4. These past few weeks have been incredibly difficult for our community.
    1. Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or to denying the rights of others so students can finish the semester and their college education.
    1. Protecting our nonprofit community spaces, like our synagogues, mosques, churches and more has unfortunately demanded more help at the federal level as the threats have increased.
    2. Last night's bomb threats targeting New York City synagogues created immense fear, but sadly, these threats are not a total shock given the rise in antisemitism that we have seen and the overall spike in threats to places of worship.