Students boo as Columbia University's president Claire Shipman speaks during a commencement ceremony, in New York, on May 21.SETH WENIG/AFP/Getty Images
The head of Columbia University gave a commencement speech Wednesday acknowledging the absence of student activist Mahmoud Khalil, who was due to receive his diploma this week but is instead in a Louisiana jail facing deportation for his role in pro-Palestinian campus protests.
The brief address drew loud boos and chants of “free Palestine” from some graduating students. Acting president Claire Shipman also alluded to the crackdown on foreign students by the Trump administration that has roiled the Ivy League school in recent months.
“We firmly believe that our international students have the same rights to freedom of speech as everyone else and they should not be targeted by the government for exercising this right,” Shipman said, adding: “I know many in our community are mourning the absence of our graduate Mahmoud Khalil.”
Khalil, a graduate student in Columbia’s international affairs program, has remained detained since March 8 when immigration agents took him into custody at his off-campus apartment. While in custody, he missed the birth of his first child.
Dr. Noor Abdalla, ICE detainee Mahmoud Khalil's wife, accepts an honorary diploma for Khalil while holding the couple's one-month-old baby, Deen, at the People's Graduation, hosted for Mahmoud Khalil and other students unable to participate in Columbia and New York University's commencement ceremony, at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, on May 18.Angelina Katsanis/Reuters
As Shipman spoke under rainy skies, some students walked out while others booed and jeered. The acting president, who took over in late March, received a similarly icy reception during a smaller graduation ceremony Tuesday.
Dozens of people protested across the street from the university’s main gates on Wednesday, and at least one person in a blue Columbia graduation robe was detained by New York City police. The NYPD did not immediately have any additional information on arrests.
Some students and faculty have accused Columbia’s leadership of capitulating to the Trump administration’s demands at the expense of protecting foreign students.
Federal authorities have not accused Khalil of a crime, but have sought to deport him on the basis that his prominent role in protests against Israel’s war in Gaza may have undermined U.S. foreign policy interests.
Eyewitness footage showed Columbia University President Claire Shipman being booed during a graduation speech on May 20, with some chanting 'Free Mahmoud' in reference to Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian student detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement over campus protests.
Reuters