Columbia University expelled and suspended multiple students for allegedly participating in allegedly destructive protests in the spring of 2024, and announced earlier this year.
Officials made a decision Monday, saying the lawsuit was the “final finding” of the University Judicial Committee (UJB) with the protests “from that time on.”
According to a university statement, sanctions imposed from Colombia are linked to the pro-Palestinian protest camp last spring and may acquire rooms at Butler’s library. Colombia responded to the incident after putting 71 students in May to temporarily suspend work.
“The sanctions issued by the University Judicial Committee on July 21 were determined by the UJB professors and administrators team who worked hard during the summer to provide results for everyone based on their cases and previous discipline results,” Colombian officials wrote in a non-signed statement. “While the University has not released any personal discipline results for students, the Butler Library’s sanctions include probation, suspension of school (from one to three years), degree revocation and expulsion.”
Officials added that “disturbance to academic activities” is a violation of university policy.
Although Colombia does not specify how many students are subject to disciplinary action, the pro-Palestine student group Cu apartheid divest claims that as many as 80 people have been fired or suspended. According to CU segregation, disciplinary letters sent to suspended students require them to apologize for returning to campus within one to three years.
Student protesters accused officials of punishing students as concessions by the Trump administration, which freezes hundreds of millions of dollars of federal research funding due to alleged anti-Semitism in Colombia linked to pro-Palestinian protests.
“These sanctions are believed to be part of a federal agreement that Colombia is about to announce,” the group wrote in a social media post.
Earlier this year, Colombia agreed to a wide range of federal government requests, including overhaul of the discipline process. But despite these concessions, $400 million in frozen federal funds have not been restored.
Multiple media reports say Colombia is reaching a deal with the Trump administration to resolve complaints about anti-Semitism on campus. Wall Street Journal It is reported that while the potential deal could restore federal research funds, it will also cost the university $200 million in settlements.
Colombia did not respond Internal Advanced ED.
The college discipline efforts sparked a reaction from the House Education and Workforce Committee, which issued a statement by Michigan Republican chairman Tim Walberg.
“Colombia has made more progress on campuses where Jewish students can truly feel safe,” he said. “The work of the committee highlights the depth and breadth of anti-Semitism in Colombia. We will continue to investigate anti-Semitism in Columbia and other universities and develop legislative solutions to address this lasting problem.”
Columbia is reportedly considering a deal with the Trump administration, but Ivy League peers Harvard has begun a court battle to regain billions of dollars in federal research funding.
It also sued the government for trying to prevent its admission to international students. The federal court temporarily blocked the Trump administration from stifling Harvard’s international enrollment rate, and the same federal judge has not ruled the legality of the government’s freeze on Harvard’s grants and contracts.
However, the judge seemed to be skeptical of the government’s position at Monday’s hearing.
