Columbia University in the United States has taken severe measures against dozens of students who participated in protests against Israel’s war on Gaza. The university has imposed punishments, including expulsion, suspension from courses, and revocation of academic degrees, on nearly 80 students.

The student activist group Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) stated that the university’s sanctions “hugely exceed precedent for teach-ins or non-Palestine-related building occupations.” Despite the university’s harsh crackdowns, student protesters occupied the Butler Library during final exams in May, demanding divestment from companies linked to the Israeli military and expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

The pro-Palestinian student encampments at Columbia University in 2024 helped ignite a global movement against Israel’s war on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The protest sites were eventually broken up when Columbia University allowed hundreds of New York City police officers on campus, leading to dozens of arrests.

Columbia University’s Judicial Board confirmed it issued expulsions, suspensions, and degree revocations after what it called a disruption during “reading period.” The Ivy League university is in negotiations with US President Donald Trump’s administration to restore some $400 million in federal funding. The Trump administration cut funds to the New York City-based institution over what it claimed were failures to “meaningfully protect Jewish students against severe and pervasive harassment.”

Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University protest leader targeted for deportation by the Trump administration, met with lawmakers in Washington, DC, more than a month after he was released from immigration custody in Louisiana. Khalil was being held amid a pledge by the US president to deport pro-Palestinian activists.

The latest disciplinary measures announced by Columbia against students came on the same day Israel’s siege on the Gaza Strip continued to cause widespread starvation, with at least 15 people, including a six-week-old baby, dying from hunger and malnutrition within a 24-hour period, according to health officials.

In a related development, Harvard University, which has also been targeted with billions in funding cuts by the government, has pushed back against pressure to change its policies by taking the Trump administration to court. The situation highlights the ongoing tensions between universities and the Trump administration over issues like free speech and Israel-Palestine relations.