Academia

Columbia Caves: Commencement is Canceled Due to Pro-Palestinian Protests

Woody Allen once said that “80 percent of success is showing up.” Yesterday, Columbia University established its academic corollary: 80 percent of defeat is not showing up. In a disgraceful decision that deprived students of one of the most memorable moments of their lives, the university yielded to protesters who have occupied parts of the campus and buildings. Instead, graduates will be allowed to go to small-scale graduations.

It is a profile of cowardice that will stain the record of Columbia for years to come.

Notably, the graduation is ordinarily held on the space where students set up an encampment, but that space was finally cleared by police last week. It did not matter.

Columbia stated that “holding a large commencement ceremony on our campus presented security concerns that unfortunately proved insurmountable…Like our students, we are deeply disappointed with this outcome.”

“Insurmountable?” It is your campus. These are your students. Hold the damn commencement.

Columbia said the security advisers identified “too many variables” for holding the commencement and that adding security would only trigger the protesters.

So the solution, once again, is to do precisely what the protesters wanted.

Schools like University of Southern California said late last month that it was canceling its main commencement ceremony, citing similar security concerns.

Protesters disrupted the commencement at University of Michigan this weekend. However, Michigan did not yield. They handled the disruption and held their ground. They held their commencement.

The decision by Columbia is consistent with how administrators have approached disruptive protests for years. While some of us have called upon schools to suspend or to expel students preventing others from speaking on campus, universities have yielded over and over again. Indeed, citing security concerns became an easy way for schools to cancel conservative speakers while professing neutrality on the content of their views.

Faculty have not only encouraged but participated in such cancel campaigns.

Even classes have been stopped by protesters at places like Northwestern without any repercussions for the students. Northwestern (my alma mater) is the ultimate example of administrators picking the path of least resistance in the face of radicalized students. Recently, seven out of 11 members of the “President’s Advisory Committee on Preventing Antisemitism and Hate” resigned in protest.

Under the controversial agreement, the school will admit five Palestinian students each year, support two Palestinian faculty members annually, create special housing for Muslim students, and add students to Committees to review purchases from Israeli businesses.

Columbia has been consistently ranked at the very bottom of schools for free speech due to its intolerance for opposing viewpoints and failure to protect a diversity of opinions on campus.

Even the dean of its leading journalism school has warned against the “weaponization of free speech.” One of Columbia’s centers publicly complained when Justice Brett Kavanaugh was allowed to speak on campus.

When Columbia finally drew the line at protesters damaging and taking over buildings, the response from many students and faculty was outrage.

After Hamilton Hall was cleared by police, the editors of Columbia Law Review asked for the cancelation of exams because they were emotionally compromised. The editors wrote that the clearing of the unauthorized encampment constituted traumatic “violence” that left them “irrevocably shaken” and “unable to focus.” They were joined by editors of five other law journals, including the Columbia Human Rights Law Review & A Jailhouse Lawyer’s Manual.

They portrayed the trauma as the appearance of counter protesters and police on campus, accusing a  “white supremacist, neo-fascist hate group” of “storming” campus. The Columbia students told the university that “many are unwell at this time and cannot study or concentrate while their peers are being hauled to jail.”

Columbia then faced threats of protests at the commencement, so it solved the problem by doing what the protesters were demanding. Of course, it did not solve the problem. Columbia is the problem. It is an example of how administrators have yielded control over their campuses to the loudest and most aggressive elements in their community.

Higher education is not supposed to be an academic version of the Hunger Games where the last person standing wins in a contest of attrition.

It is perhaps only appropriate that Columbia’s final lesson for graduates should be a continuation of years of yielding to the demands of those who dictate what can be said or done on campus.

Many of these students were denied commencement ceremonies four years ago. They worked to get into Columbia and many of their families had to make huge sacrifices to allow them to study at the university. As protests ramped up, they found themselves barred from campus and told again to take remote classes.  A Jewish professor’s access card was deactivated because his presence on campus was viewed as too inflammatory for the protesters.

When they are finally ready to celebrate that moment, they have been told, again, that commencement is cancelled. However, this is not due to a pandemic but protesters. They will have to go to smaller graduations that are less objectionable to the radical elements of the student body.

Henry David Thoreau once said “The path of least resistance leads to crooked rivers and crooked men.” It has the same effect on higher education. There was a clear path open to Columbia. Hold the commencement and hold any disrupters accountable. In choosing to yield, President Nemat “Minouche” Shafik has abandoned not just these graduates but the integrity of Columbia.

 

 

225 thoughts on “Columbia Caves: Commencement is Canceled Due to Pro-Palestinian Protests”

  1. These protests should continue. They must continue. — Kommielala

  3. Dear Prof Turley,

    The pomp and ceremony of Commencement is fleeting. A brief acknowledgement of accomplishment only my mother seemed to relish. .. along with a fresh mint julep and the fancy caps & gowns.

    Nevertheless, if I was paying $90,000/yr. to attend one these Ivy League schools, I would want my money back. And not, necessarily, because of canceled Commencements.

    Columbia, e.g., recently took-in ex Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland. Fresh off her stint on Point Ukraine. Ain’t nothing that woman is teaching that I want to learn.
    (otoh, Columbia’s college of ‘Sustainable Development’ Prof Sachs is a real peach in the pit of Columbia’s campus turmoil. .. so one hand washes the other, I guess.)

    The students, at least, are in turmoil because of Israel’s (Bibi/Biden in particular) on-going ‘genocidal’ [war] crimes in Gaza. That is not ‘antisemitic’, or anti-Jew or even anti-Israel. I only hesitate to call it ‘war’ crimes because ‘Hamas’ is not a military and there is no viable state of Palestine.

    Of course, Israel, with U.S. support, could always establish a permanent home-state place for the Palestinians, feed the hungry, heal the blind and defeat Hamas decisively .. . but don’t hold your breath.

    Hell, they could make ‘New Jerusalem’ a world heritage site on a Med Cruise for Christians, Muslims and Jews and make a small fortune. .. if they wanted to.

    *O Jerusalem, Jerusalem . .. how often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!

    1. Just an observation – like many other kooky left wing nuts Prof. Sachs was once an excellent economists who was responsible for many amazing things. Paul Krugman earned his Noble Prize. Prof. Tribes text book on constitutional law is excellent.

      Today, none of them are worth 10 minutes of my time.

      1. John Say,
        Krugman was wrong on inflation and was complaining that the economy was not that bad, if you took out the costs of food, fuel and housing/rent. Then everything is just peachy!
        /sarc off.

      2. Prof Sachs is still very much worth listening to. .. Krugman and Tribe have lost their marbles.

        1. Prof Sachs is very knowledgeable now, that’s exactly right. he is the rare high profile economist who kept learning and did not just become a tool like Krugman, what a fool he is. — Saloth Sar

        2. I agree that Sachs is a moderate and persuasive critic of our involvment in the war between Russia and Ukraine, which we seem to have played a role in causing. But he is losing some of his credits for moderation by justifying behavior that allows a small group of students (if they are students) to harass the rest of the students at Columbia.

      3. Partisanship will kill brain cells faster than hypoxia or traumatic brain injury ever could.

    2. “‘Hamas’ is not a military and there is no viable state of Palestine.”

      Dgsnowden is getting a little smarter despite the fact he lacks understanding of what the word genocide means. Hamas is a terrorist organization supported by Iran and Qatar. It is also given aid by the US and EU that is used for weapons to kill civilian women and children. Iran had gone from a near-bankrupt state when Trump was in office to a country with enough money to support terrorism around the world.

      Do you know who doesn’t like Hamas and who considers them terrorists, along with the Muslim Brotherhood? The Arab nations nearby. Check out Jordon for one and see what happened when the PLO (in part, today’s Hamas) settled in Jordon. You don’t know, which is one of the reasons why you sound ignorant about the subject.

      1. Why did Israel give aid to Hamas? And they certainly did, see below.

        Was it because they wanted to create a rival to the Marxist PLO?

        Out of the frying pan into the fire

        https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/10/world/middleeast/israel-qatar-money-prop-up-hamas.html

        from 2021:

        “Buying Quiet’: Inside the Israeli Plan That Propped Up Hamas
        Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gambled that a strong Hamas (but not too strong) would keep the peace and reduce pressure for a Palestinian state.”

        Saloth Sar

        1. Try getting your facts straight and in context. Also, it would help if you learned that the NY Times is not an accurate reporter. Try learning how to read with comprehension.

  4. Jonathan: You got it wrong. Woody Allen actually said “Eighty percent of LIFE is just showing up”. In the book “In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies”, “life” was changed to “success”. And that business variation has stuck ever since. Business is all about succeeding–forget about “life”.

    You seem to think Columbia’s decision to cancel its commencement is a “profile of cowardice”. You think Columbia should hold the commencement–damn the torpedoes! Protesters should be arrested and expelled. But isn’t that a violation of your first principle–the right to “free speech”? When students engage in peaceful protests you disagree with why should the 1st Amendment be suddenly sacrificed?

    Woody Allen expressed the view that showing up is the most important part of life. Well, the student protests around the country are an example of that. The Founding Fathers and the “patriots” fought for that right–the right of peaceful assembly and protest. They didn’t have that under the English King. British troops put down peaceful protest with violence. Our whole constitutional republic–our Democracy–is based on the principle of peaceful protest against government policies we disagree with. But it’s pretty clear where you stand. Students who peacefully protest should be arrested, put in jail and expelled from school. Had you been around in the prelude to our Revolution we know where you would have stood–on the side of the “Royalists”!

    You quote David Thoreau. I like him too. Here’s my favorite of his quotes: “If the machine of government is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another then, I say, break the law”. I think Thoreau would be on the side of the student protesters!

    1. How is taking over and vandalizing a building an exercise in “free speech?”

    2. Once again you prove clueless about free speech.

      A protest is NOT peaceful, when it infringes on the actual rights of others.

      Free speech has its HIGHEST protections – at government created public forums for free speech – like the US Capitol.

      But even there – permits are required , primarily to prevent chaos. Government can not make viewpoint based choices.
      But it can do first come first served controlling access to the most important forum for free speech in the country.

      There were protests at my commencement decades ago. They did not disrupt commencement.
      Protesters donned satirical costumes did not say a word and made their point.

      Regardless, a college commencement is NOT a government created forum for free speech.
      There is speech at commencements. But commencements are still private events on private property.

      Colleges typically allow valedictorians to speak – often on the topic of their choosing.

      They invite guest speakers – also typically speaking on their own topic.

      Usually protests that do not disrupt commencement or the speakers are allowed.
      But that is not a requirement.

      The college is free to set whatever rules for commencement it wishes – including constraints on the topics of speakers and
      barring protests.

      Mostly we would prefer that colleges make their choices to allow as much free speech as possible, without disrupting the event.
      But that is not a requirement.

      Because most colleges accept federal funding, they are required to comply with rules regarding free speech similar to the government.

      But even the government is NOT required to allow all speech everywhere all the time.

  5. It all falls into place when American communists are at war with you.
    And American communists are in control of 70% of government.

    1. American communists are 70%+++ of government.
      They don’t contribute to the Production (GDP) of America.
      Take away Their compensation packages (Local/State/ Federal) and shut down FERS (The Federal Employees’ Retirement System/), State, and Local retirement Systems, and make them enroll in Other Investments – Like the rest of U.S.

      Then you’ll see what real government is.

  6. Turley is definitely a professional attorney. While on one hand he’s defended Arab clients who were associated with terrorism, on the other he writes scathing opinions of Arab terrorists to make the right wingers, who deep down hate Jews, feel good because it’s an opportunity to pin “Hamas-lover” on Joe Biden.

  7. I never realized how much the extreme right loves Jews. All that discrimination, persecution (especially in the American south) and even lynchings of Jews must be lies. When a Jew looks at the Confederate flag I’ll bet they feel like they’re home.

  8. I can’t get too worked up about this graduation ceremony stuff. When I graduated from both high school and college, I only wanted two things: a piece of paper and OUT!

    1. Seems that’s all you got from all that education was a piece of paper. Fortunately, some of us applied ourselves, read the books, did the work, and actually learned.

  9. When you sign up for an overpriced hotbed of leftist intolerance, don’t be surprised when your experience is ruined by a hotbed of leftist intolerance.

    1. The people who stormed the capitol, chanted “Hang Mike Pence,” and tried to subvert American democracy weren’t leftists.

      1. Which proves the point: we’re ALL @-holes! Seriously, tolerance works both ways: you want to protest? Go ahead, but you can’t prevent others from exercising their right to protest against YOU. If you do, you’re the @-hole.

      2. You’re right, they were probably feds working for Pelosi and Co.

  10. I was at Kent State in 1970 when they shut the campus down. The May 4th tragedy came about because of the successes of “external agitation” from the preceding three nights. Neither the students or the administration was prepared for the violence that occurred, they merely went about their business yelling and then suppressing, yelling and then suppressing. Neither was prepared to respond in the correct fashion and that is to not let the violence occur in the first place. The May 1st violence downtown was not the student body. It was the SDS from Chicago and the motorcycle gangs. Same for the burning of the ROTC building in the following night. It’s hard to prepare for the unanticipated. This is the advantage of the violent, they act by surprise, do their harm. wreck the environment and then slither out of town. It was a failure the part of the students that permitted the violence to continue. They want the value conferred by the college accreditation, but they failed to defend the college because they were not informed on how
    to do that by the parents and the administration. A university education must entail pre attendance education. The students must be able to assume responsibility for the damage they sat around and tolerated. This is their life lesson. This is what the post graduation world is going to hold for you. Unfortunately it has to be brought to your attention prior to attending the university, and it was not, and you and the university suffered.

  11. “Hold the commencement and hold any disrupters accountable.”
    Well said JT

  12. Unfortunately, this is the best many in this privileged cohort are capable of – they are not ok. If we think the situation in academia is bad, wait until they are actually in the workforce, or government. ‘The Squad’ was just a warmup; this is all going to impact everyone, eventually. 🙄🙄

    1. Too bad Hitler’s not here to make everything the way you like it.

    2. James,
      I doubt most of them could function in a normal workplace. You know, like showing up to work on time, dress code, professionalism. Things us normal people do on a daily basis and call it common sense.
      As we have seen with failed Democrat ran cities and states, they only thing they will do is drive those government institutions into the ground.

  13. The Hamas and Antifa apologists on here are the same type that said “it’s only breaking glass at Jewish businesses. they can still work at other stores”. They said “it’s only removing Jews for their own safety and the safety of the rest of us that need to rid them from society”. The key words of Gio and the other Jew haters are always the same…”It’s only Jews….”

    Notice that Biden and his team of morons have managed to get the media to ignore the fact that Hamas is holding American hostages right this minute. Maybe if one of the hostages was a black lesbian player in the WNBA the media would notice. But nope, “It’s only Jews….”

    1. HullBobby,
      Well said.
      That is how they will justify their violence.

  14. So, will their degrees be mailed to them? Will they have to take makeup classes for the ones shut down in order to graduate? I haven’t seen this addressed.

  16. Democrat megadonors like Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and George Soros’s Open Society give monies to radical groups like the Wespac Foundation.

    “There is nothing wrong with being a member of Hamas, being a leader of Hamas, being a fighter in Hamas,” Samidoun coordinator Charlotte Kates told university students.
    The Samidoun organization was declared as a terrorist organization by the Israel government.

    This summer is going to be interesting.

    1. “Democrat megadonors like . . .”

      Add to that list of terrorist financiers: The Tides Foundation.

          1. Good discussion of the Jew-hating trope that Jews work behind the scenes to control governments.

            1. don’t all powerful ethnic groups seek to control events? I would say the Jews are among the best and I don’t fault them for it any more I would the Chinese. But it’s no trope. And Americans who aren’t riding in that car should want to control events too. that’s politics not conspiracy

  17. Minouche Shafik is incompetence personified.
    DEI, the gift that keeps on giving.

    1. Let’s all take a moment for Hope. She not only had to put up with this…, she also had to deal with the stank.

      1. Let’s all take a moment for Trump and imagine him naked with Stormy Daniels, Karen McDougal, and the underage girls we’re about to get a clearer picture of when DeSantis releases the Epstein flight logs in July.

        1. DeSantis did say we shouldn’t seal the records just to protect some rich guys from New York who broke the law.

        4. Bill Clinton’s name will be on the flight logs, but Trump’s name will not.

      1. I hope it entertained you under the rock you live under. My steadfast goal every single day is to warm the hearts of the magats I run into!!

  19. We should all start protesting the price of everything going up and up.
    Maybe they’d give in to our demands/agitation and lower prices for us.

  20. well, all that this proves is that the administration, board of governors and faculty are as perniciously infected with an un-American agenda as the hordes of malcontented, miseducated toddlers demanding what is inappropriately based on false information. “Soylent Green – bring in the scoops”.

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