Graduates at a school within Columbia University booed the institution’s acting president and chanted for the freedom of a jailed anti-Israel protester during commencement on Tuesday.
The scene called to mind pro-Hamas on-campus protests at Columbia and other colleges last year.
During the Columbia College Class Day ceremony, graduates chanted “Free Mahmoud” in reference to Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia graduate student and Palestinian activist who was arrested in March.
Khalil remains detained while a New Jersey federal judge decides whether he can go free while his immigration case proceeds, The New York Times reported.
Graduates on Tuesday also booed Claire Shipman despite the acting president having said she will not allow the Trump administration to “require us to relinquish our independence and autonomy.”
The Trump administration has threatened to end grants to universities over their handling of anti-Israel protests and over diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.
“Good morning, Class of 2025. I know that many of you feel some amount of frustration with me, and I know you feel it with the administration,” Shipman said, earning a round of boos, NBC News reported.
“And I know that we have a strong, strong tradition of free speech at this university. And I am always open to feedback, which I am getting right now.”
It was reported May 9 that Columbia University placed at least 65 students on interim suspension and barred another 33 from campus after the anti-Israel protesters forced their way into the Butler Library reading room and refused to leave.
Shipman called in the NYPD to clear the reading room after the students involved would not identify themselves or disperse.
Last month, Columbia University said it was holding “good faith” negotiations with President Donald Trump’s administration to regain federal funding, hours after Harvard University rejected the administration’s demands to audit the “viewpoint diversity” of its students and faculty, among other overhauls.
Shipman on April 14 said the private New York school would not cede ground on its commitment to academic freedom during talks with the administration.
Columbia College is an undergraduate school for liberal arts within Columbia University.
Columbia’s commencement ceremony for the graduates of the Ivy League’s 19 schools, colleges, and affiliate institutions will be Wednesday.
Reuters contributed to this story.
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