The Shift: Columbia students boo school president, cheer Mahmoud Khalil at graduation

Columbia University held its graduation ceremony this week. When acting school president Claire Shipman addressed the crowd, she was met with a loud chorus of boos and “Free Mahmoud!” chants. “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,” she told the students. Shipman’s attempt to separate the two entities was met with louder boos, and why wouldn’t it be? Since Columbia students erected a Gaza Solidarity Encampment last spring, the school has worked to stifle pro-Palestinian activism on campus. Just days before Mahmoud Khalil was kidnapped and sent to a detention center in Louisiana, Columbia unveiled a new ICE protocol and reversed the school’s previous status as a “sanctuary campus,” allowing federal agents onto campus in certain situations. Around the same time as Khalil’s arrest, the Trump administration sent the school an open letter implying that the president might rethink his decision to cut $400 million in (congressionally approved) federal grants to Columbia if it stepped up its crackdown on Gaza protesters. “We expect your immediate compliance,” read the letter. A short time later, Columbia was announcing a new round of suspensions, expulsions, and temporary degree revocations
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