"Columbia University is "punishing" its graduating class for years of controversial pro-Palestinian and anti-ICE protests on campus by moving this year's commencement ceremony off campus, from its iconic rotunda more than eight miles north to its pedestrian football field, students claimed. The Ivy League's graduating class is desperately trying to reverse the decision to host the ceremony at the Robert K. Kraft Field at the Baker Athletics Complex in Inwood - a move the class of 2026 has slammed as "evil.""
""It's disrespectful to the student body. We've all put in so much hard work at least four years here, and we deserve to feel like we're being honored and celebrated and respected by the university," Barnard pre-med student Vivian Carmody, 22, told The Post. "Between everything that's happened - especially to my class in the last four years - it feels like more and more of a disconnect between the student body and the administration. And this is just like the cherry on top.""
Columbia moved its 2026 commencement off the Morningside Low Steps to Robert K. Kraft Field in Inwood. The university said the relocation was to accommodate a class about 20% larger than the 2025 class. Many seniors described the decision as punitive in response to years of pro-Palestinian and anti-ICE protests, calling the move "punishing" and "evil." Students questioned why separately split undergraduate and graduate ceremonies could not be held on the Low Steps given smaller event sizes. Students called the relocation disrespectful after four years of effort and noted a growing disconnect with the administration. Columbia moved ceremonies to Kraft Field in 2024 over safety concerns after controversy around a Gaza Solidarity Encampment.
Read at New York Post
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]