Columbia cancels university-wide graduation in favor of smaller ceremonies

May 6 (UPI) -- Columbia University on Monday announced it will cancel its university-wide graduation ceremony in favor of smaller events amid ongoing pro-Palestinian protest demonstrations in the city and other college campuses across the country.

The university said in a statement that the decision to shift the scheduled May 15 graduation ceremonies to a scaled-down, "school-based celebrations" was made following discussions with faculty and students leaders.

"Based on their feedback we have decided to make the centerpiece of our Commencement activities our Class Days and school-level ceremonies, where students are honored individually alongside their peers, rather than the University-wide ceremony that is scheduled for May 15," Columbia said.

The majority of the upcoming ceremonies -- normally held on Columbia's main campus where the encampment was -- will now be hosted at Columbia's Baker Athletics Complex with some exceptions, according to the university.

But the university noted on Monday how the event changes should not impact any family travel plans or other visitor information, saying "there is no need for a change in travel plans for families."

A university official told NBC News that the decision to alter the graduation ceremony plans were made largely due to security concerns.

Tensions on Columbia's campus escalated in mid-April when police arrested more than 100 people -- including the daughter of U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar , D-Minn. -- after dozens of tents had been pitched at the center of campus.

Last week, university President Nemat "Minouche" Shafik had written that officials were still working at plans for graduation the day before hundreds of New York Police Department officers wearing riot gear had swarmed Columbia's campus and entered Hamilton Hall where they cleared the building and arrested dozens of protesters at the university's request.

Hamilton Hall stands in distinction for being taken over during anti-Vietnam demonstrations on campus in 1968.

In her email last week to the university, Shafik invoked memories of the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that Columbia officials "do not want to deprive thousands of students and their families and friends of a graduation celebration" as many did not attend in-person high school graduations.

"Please recall that many in this graduating class did not get a celebration when graduating from high school because of the pandemic, and many of them are the first in their families to earn a university degree. We owe it to all of our graduates and their loved ones to honor their achievement," she wrote.

The protesters had called for the university to end its relationship with Israeli academic institutions and a "complete divestment" of funds from pro-Israel entities.

The University of Southern California in Los Angeles also canceled its May 10 graduation ceremony -- citing new safety measures on processing people who come to campus -- amid scores of other pro-Palestinian protests on American college campuses .

Shafik took over the university presidency in 2023, and this would be her first graduation as the head of campus but student leaders had sought to dissuade her.

"We were like, 'We don't want you there, and if you are there, people will use that as an opportunity to try to get you to listen to them, which is what these protests have always been,'" Teji Vijayakumar, a graduating senior and the Columbia College student body president, told Politico .

It was not immediately clear if she still planned to speak.

Monday on social media, a senior administration official under former President George W. Bush was critical of Columbia's decision, calling it "awful" and "a leadership failure" by Columbia administrators.

"It's a shame that fewer than 1% of the students can do this to 99% of their fellow students," former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer posted on X .

"The leaders of Columbia brought this on themselves through weakness," Fleischer wrote.

The university said Monday how "these past few weeks have been incredibly difficult for our community."

"Just as we are focused on making our graduation experience truly special, we continue to solicit student feedback and are looking at the possibility of a festive event on May 15 to take the place of the large, formal ceremony," added Columbia University.