Two days ago we learned that Columbia University had finally completed hearings for students who were involved in a campus building takeover last April. Why it took the school a year is anyone’s guess but what the announcement did not say is what the results of those hearings was. The school had threatened students involved in the takeover of Hamilton Hall with expulsion at the time. Yesterday they announced a series of punishments including some expulsions.
Today, the Columbia University Judicial Board determined findings and issued sanctions to students ranging from multi-year suspensions, temporary degree revocations, and expulsions related to the occupation of Hamilton Hall last spring.
The school did not identify how many students were involved but once again Columbia University Apartheid Divest has done that, saying there were 22 students in all. They are of course talking tough and making more demands.
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HAS JUST SANCTIONED 22 STUDENTS WITH SUSPENSIONS, EXPULSIONS, AND DEGREE REVOCATIONS FOR PROTESTING GENOCIDE IN PALESTINE.
The University’s extreme repression is a panicked attempt at silencing the movement for Palestinian liberation. But know that the reason this is happening is because they recognize our power. They have seen our unyielding commitment to Palestine firsthand over the last year, and they are terrified. We will make Columbia divest no matter the repression they subject us to. Reinstate our students now. Divest from genocide now.
A further breakdown suggests that Columbia expelled six students (in addition to the three already suspended by Barnard College). That means there were about 16 suspensions/degree revocations. One of the people expelled happened to be the president of the graduate students’ union. Naturally, CUAD is threatening to file a federal case claiming the school is trying to bust the union.
The University expelled Grant Miner, president of the Student Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers, UAW announced in a Thursday news release. Miner is a Ph.D. student in the department of English and comparative literature.
The union is set to have its first bargaining session for its upcoming contract with the University on Friday; its current contract is set to expire in June. In its X post, the union announced an “emergency rally” at the upcoming bargaining session…
“By firing SWC’s president, Columbia administration has violated labor law, giving the union grounds to file an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) against the University,” the CUAD post reads.
The UAW is outraged.
It is no accident that the University is targeting a union leader whose local went on strike in the last round of bargaining. It is no accident that this is happening at Columbia University, where student workers won back the right to collective bargaining in 2016.
— UAW (@UAW) March 14, 2025
They offer no evidence that this is part of a union-busting plot. But they know Columbia won’t speak about the reasons this individual was expelled because it treats those as private matters. So the UAW can accuse the school of something without any fear of being contradicted in this case. In effect, the unionists are arguing that no punishment can ever be doled out to a union president or else they’ll go whining to the NLRB.
At the same time this was announced two other things were happening. First, DHS carried out a search on campus.
I am writing heartbroken to inform you that we had federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in two University residences tonight. No one was arrested or detained. No items were removed, and no further action was taken.
Federal agents from the DHS served Columbia University with two judicial search warrants signed by a federal magistrate judge authorizing DHS to enter non-public areas of the University and conduct searches of two student rooms.
Was one of these Khalil’s room? So far no one is saying who was the target. Also today, we’re learning that the Trump administration has given Columbia a list of demands. These are the things the school must do if it wants to have $400 million in government grants restored. They were given a week to comply.
The letter stated that the University must comply with required policy shifts, listing nine bullet points…The University must meet the demands by March 20 in order to participate in “formal negotiations” with the federal government…
The letter requires that the University complete disciplinary proceedings for students involved in the April 2024 “Gaza Solidarity Encampments” and occupation of Hamilton Hall, adding that “meaningful discipline means expulsion or multi-year suspension.”…
The letter demands that the University abolish the University Judicial Board and “centralize all disciplinary processes under the Office of the President,” empowering the Office of the President to suspend or expel students. The letter introduces a precondition that Columbia Public Safety officers have “full law enforcement authority, including arrest and removal of agitators.”
Demands further include a mask ban policy for masks “intended to conceal identity or intimidate others” and that individuals wearing masks for religious and health reasons display their Columbia University ID visible on their clothing.
Here’s the full letter:
NEW letter to Columbia from Trump admin lists demands for “continued financial relationship” with the US government”:
—Suspend or expel students for Hamilton Hall protest
—“Time, place, and manner rules”
—Mask ban
—Address “anti-Zionist” discrimination
—Reform admissions
—MORE pic.twitter.com/djCc31Vq2Q— Prem Thakker (@prem_thakker) March 14, 2025
As mentioned above, punishments for last year’s actions are complete, so they can scratch one item off the list. Still the fact that it took them most of a year to do it isn’t encouraging. Can they knock out the rest of this list in a week?
There has been a push behind the scenes for a mask ban so that’s not a new idea. But I think the demand about getting rid of the Judicial Board is going to be the one that creates the most pushback. Also adopting a definition of antisemitism is not going to be popular. Can they make all these changes in a week? I would normally say not a chance but in this case $400 million is a pretty big motivator to at least try.
As described here, the funding cuts are mostly falling on faculty in STEM fields like engineering, science and medicine who have mostly stayed out of the fray regarding campus disruptions. Those faculty are now angry with faculty in the humanities who have been openly supporting the protests but who haven’t lost as much (or anything) from the funding cuts. This has created a state of civil war behind the scenes with STEM fields demanding a crackdown on CUAD to restore their funding and humanities faculty pushing resistance to the Trump administration. I guess we’ll see which way the administrators decide to go in the next week. My guess: They’ll adopt some of the changes, like the mask ban, and then beg for more time.
Finally, there’s another walkout/street protest planned for today. Do any of these students still have time for classes?
