Columbia University has expelled nearly 80 students for their peaceful involvement in pro-Palestine protests, marking one of the harshest anti-dissent crackdowns in recent American academic history.

The expulsions target student activists who participated in sit-ins and encampments earlier this year demanding an end to the university’s complicity in the Israeli occupation and genocide in Gaza. Among the most high-profile actions was the takeover of Butler Library during final exams and an encampment held over alumni weekend.

According to Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), the student coalition leading the demonstrations, the university has issued expulsion orders ranging from one to three years. In a particularly alarming escalation, some recent graduates have had their degrees revoked—an unprecedented and punitive measure that many see as a political weapon against student voices for Palestinian freedom.

Columbia confirmed the disciplinary actions on Tuesday, further revealing that dozens of other students have been placed on suspension or academic probation. These rulings were handed down by the newly restructured University Judicial Board (UJB), which was controversially moved under the authority of the provost’s office earlier this year, raising alarm bells about the erosion of independent oversight.

CUAD swiftly condemned the expulsions as “wildly disproportionate” and “politically motivated,” noting that similar forms of peaceful protest in the past—unrelated to Palestine—were met with far more lenient consequences. “These penalties are meant to silence dissent and send a message to all who stand with Gaza,” the coalition said in a statement. “But we will not be deterred. Our commitment to Palestinian liberation is unwavering.”

The university administration, led by Acting President Claire Shipman, has adopted an aggressive posture against student organizing. In remarks to Bloomberg, Shipman announced that Columbia would neither recognize nor meet with CUAD or any affiliated groups, declaring that organizations that “promote violence or disrupt academic missions” would not be tolerated—an accusation CUAD flatly rejects as defamatory and baseless.

Simultaneously, Columbia has moved to adopt the controversial IHRA definition of antisemitism, which critics say conflates legitimate criticism of Israel’s occupation with hatred of Jewish people. Civil rights groups and legal scholars warn this step risks criminalizing pro-Palestinian speech and suppressing student activism under the guise of anti-discrimination efforts.

University officials claimed the expulsions were the result of procedural changes rather than external political pressure. However, the timing aligns closely with mounting congressional and donor demands that universities crack down on pro-Palestine movements, especially as American campuses become a frontline in the struggle over Gaza.

The crackdown at Columbia is emblematic of a broader authoritarian trend sweeping through U.S. higher education, where students speaking out against genocide, apartheid, and occupation are being silenced, surveilled, and punished. Advocates say this erosion of academic freedom and protest rights disproportionately targets students who dare to stand for Palestine.

CUAD and its supporters have vowed to continue their activism and expose Columbia’s role in normalizing Zionist aggression. “Our voices are louder than your expulsions,” they declared. “Columbia may shut our classrooms, but it cannot erase our conscience.”

As the war on Gaza continues—with tens of thousands killed, starved, and displaced by Israeli forces—many argue that the moral imperative to protest has never been greater. And at Columbia, the cost of that moral courage is being paid by the very students who refuse to be silent. (ILKHA)