Columbia University in New York, United States, has imposed severe punishments on nearly 80 students who participated in protests against Israel's war on Gaza, reported Al Jazeera, citing the student activist group Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD).
The disciplinary measures include expulsions, course suspensions, and the revocation of academic degrees.
The CUAD group, which has called on the university to cut all financial ties with Israel, said in a statement that nearly 80 students have now been expelled or suspended for up to three years over their involvement in antiwar protests.
According to Columbia, these latest punishments come in response to the student protesters' seizure of the Butler Library in May 2025 and the encampment during Alumni Weekend in spring 2024, which disrupted academic activities in violation of the university's policies.
The protesters occupied the Butler Library during final exams in May and demanded divestment from companies linked to the Israeli military.
The CUAD group said the university's sanctions on students "hugely exceed precedent for teach-ins or non-Palestine-related building occupations".
"We will not be deterred. We are committed to the struggle for Palestinian liberation," the group added.
The pro-Palestinian student encampments at Columbia University in 2024 played a pivotal role in sparking a global movement against Israel's ongoing military campaign in the Gaza Strip.
The protest sites were eventually dismantled after Columbia University authorised the deployment of hundreds of New York City police officers onto campus, resulting in dozens of arrests.
Meanwhile, Columbia University said on Wednesday it will pay over $200 million to the U.S. government, after the Trump administration announced in March it would penalise Columbia over how it handled last year's protests by cutting $400 million in federal funding, reported Reuters.
The administration cut funds over what it claimed were failures to "meaningfully protect Jewish students against severe and pervasive harassment".
The university's settlement with the government is aimed at resolving federal probes, and having most of its suspended federal funding restored.
"Under today's agreement, a vast majority of the federal grants which were terminated or paused in March 2025 - will be reinstated and Columbia's access to billions of dollars in current and future grants will be restored," the university said in a statement.
After the government cancelled funding, the school acquiesced later in March to a series of demands that included scrutiny of departments offering courses on the Middle East and other concessions that were widely condemned by U.S. academics.
Trump has targeted several universities since returning to office in January over the pro-Palestinian student protests that jolted the college campuses last year.
He welcomed the agreement between his administration and Columbia in a post on social media late on Wednesday.
Last week, Columbia adopted a controversial definition of antisemitism that equates it with anti-Zionism. The school said it would no longer engage with pro-Palestinian group Columbia University Apartheid Divest.
"Imagine selling your students out just so you can pay Trump $221 million dollars and keep funding genocide," the pro-Palestinian group said on Wednesday, calling the settlement a bribe.
Trump has also sought to leverage federal funding over other institutions, including Harvard University. Moreover, his administration has tried to deport foreign pro-Palestinian students, including at Columbia, but faced legal obstacles. Rights groups have raised concerns over the administration's crackdown on academic freedom and free speech.
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