COLUMBIA’S EXPULSIONS IGNITE FURY: A HISTORIC CRACKDOWN ON STUDENT PROTESTS
Columbia University has expelled three students in less than two weeks, marking an unprecedented suppression of campus activism. On February 21, two students were removed for allegedly disrupting a course on the History of Modern Israel taught by Avi Shilon, a former IDF soldier. Then, on February 28, the first expulsion connected to the infamous Hamilton Hall occupation of April 30, 2024, was issued—cementing a chilling new era of student discipline.
This marks the first time in 57 years that Columbia has expelled anyone for protest, and it is the only official expulsion tied to Israel’s war on Gaza. Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) calls this crackdown “completely unprecedented,” emphasizing that the last expulsion for nonviolent political activism was in 1936, when Robert Burke was ousted for rallying against Columbia’s ties to Nazism.
Even during the explosive 1968 Vietnam War protests, when students occupied buildings and even took a dean hostage, the administration showed restraint—expelling no one. Over decades, student activism at Columbia has included sit-ins, building takeovers, and mass demonstrations against American foreign policy, South African apartheid, systemic racism, and fossil fuel investments—yet none of those movements resulted in the severe disciplinary measures now targeting pro-Palestine demonstrators.
A New Era of Repression?
“Students have a right to protest in all settings, including academic ones, particularly when those protests center liberation movements and call for universities to divest from genocide and warmongers,” a CUAD spokesperson told The Nation.
One expelled Barnard student expressed deep disillusionment: “At Barnard, I was told countless times the value of voicing my opinions and standing up for what I know to be true and good. The fact that my removal has taken place so baselessly, simply because I believe that a holocaust of the Palestinian people is unequivocally wrong, has completely shattered the illusion of what I thought Barnard stood for.”
The backlash has been swift and overwhelming. A national petition demanding the reinstatement of expelled Barnard students has surpassed 120,000 signatures. CUAD organized a six-hour sit-in on February 26, with around 100 students from Barnard and Columbia calling for the university to reverse the expulsions, grant amnesty to disciplined pro-Palestine activists, and overhaul Barnard’s opaque disciplinary procedures. However, student protesters claim that Barnard abruptly backed out of negotiations just 25 minutes before they were set to begin.
Escalation and Crackdowns
On March 5, dozens of students staged a sit-in at Milstein Library, renaming it the “Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya Liberated Zone” in honor of a Palestinian hospital director detained by the Israeli military in December 2024. Within an hour, Barnard administrators stormed in, issuing “final” disciplinary notices accusing participants of violating university policies.
In a powerful moment of defiance, activists ripped up the expulsion notices and threw them into a recycling bin. One student took a megaphone and declared: “The university has never pursued expulsion for Zionist students—even when hundreds of reports have been made with undeniable evidence.”
Meanwhile, in a glaring display of double standards, Columbia’s response to anti-Palestine aggression has been remarkably lenient. In January 2024, two Israeli students sprayed a chemical agent at a Gaza solidarity rally, hospitalizing several people. Their punishment? An 18-month suspension, later reduced to probation and a $395,000 settlement payout.
Then, on March 5, as tensions reached a fever pitch, the NYPD swarmed Barnard’s campus, arresting nine students and ejecting journalists—all under the cover of a suspicious bomb threat and a torrential downpour.
Federal Pressure and Financial Threats
CUAD attributes this sudden and severe disciplinary escalation to pressure from the U.S. Department of Justice. On March 1, the DOJ announced it would investigate 10 college campuses, including Columbia, for “incidents of antisemitism” since October 2023. Citing a Trump-era executive order, Columbia is now under the microscope of the Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism.
The stakes are high. Following the DOJ briefing, multiple federal agencies—including the Department of Education, Health and Human Services, and the General Services Administration—revealed they are considering Stop Work Orders on $51.4 million in government contracts with Columbia. Additionally, over $5 billion in federal grant commitments to the university are now under review.
Faced with mounting financial and political pressure, Barnard President Laura Ann Rosenbury published an op-ed in The Chronicle of Higher Education, drawing a “line in the sand.” She claimed that student activists were exploiting the “Middle East conflict” to “tear our campus community apart.”
CUAD swiftly fired back, calling her remarks “whitewashing the deaths of thousands of Palestinians” and exposing Barnard’s complicity in war profiteering through its investments in weapons manufacturers and Israeli corporations.
“It is she who evicted dozens of students last spring,” CUAD emphasized, noting that Barnard has left over 50 pro-Palestine activists without access to education, housing, food, or medical care through interim suspensions.
A Dangerous Precedent for Free Speech
The Barnard expulsions set a terrifying precedent for selective repression and the Palestine exception to free speech. CUAD warns that this will not deter student activists from demanding accountability. As Israel continues its fatal blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza and repeatedly violates ceasefire agreements, students remain steadfast in their fight for Palestinian liberation.
“Columbia and Barnard are cracking down on student protesters to appease the DOJ and billionaire donors because they are afraid of losing their funding,” a CUAD spokesperson asserted. “But students will not be silenced. They are adapting, resisting, and finding new ways to challenge this institution’s complicity in genocide.”
The battle for justice at Columbia is far from over. The question now is: Will the university double down on its crackdown, or will the voices of dissent finally break through?
