Columbia University suspends more than 65 students over library occupation

10/5/2025 13:56

Columbia University has suspended more than 65 students for their role in a pro-Palestinian demonstration that forced the shutdown of the main campus library, a school official said on Friday. The university official said, the students were placed on interim suspension and will be prohibited from taking their final exams or entering campus except to access their dormitories.



According to the official, Columbia also barred 33 other people from campus, including students from other colleges and alumni who took part in the protest.

The Columbia official said, "When rules are violated and when our academic community is purposefully disrupted, that is a considered choice — one with real consequences."



Scores of students were arrested after seizing part of the school's main library on Wednesday in one of the biggest pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus since last year's wave of protests against Israel's war in Gaza.



Officers of the New York Police Department were called to campus to quell the protest at the request of university officials.



The demonstration came amid negotiations between Columbia's board of trustees and the Trump administration, which announced in March it was penalizing the university over previous pro-Palestinian protests by canceling hundreds of millions of dollars in research grants.