On Thursday, the university announced it was expelling, suspending and revoking the degrees of 22 students following last year’s Hamilton Hall protest, fulfilling one of the nine demands issued in a letter from the Trump administration to Columbia.
The University Judicial Board (UJB) - which has been overseeing disciplinary proceedings for pro-Palestinian protestors since the fall and issued the punishments - said it was issuing “multi-year suspension, temporary degree revocations, and expulsions related to the occupation of Hamilton Hall” on 30 April.
Previously, the UJB - an independent body of faculty, staff and students - had only suspended students. One of the demands made by the Trump administration is to eliminate the UJB and centralise discipline beneath the president’s office, giving them sole jurisdiction over punishing students.
A statement from the Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition alleged that co-chair of the Board of Trustees David Greenwald - who worked at Goldman Sachs for 20 years - “was revealed to have personally interfered in the disciplinary cases of these students”.
An estimated six students were expelled from Columbia University, according to student organisers. One of the students expelled and fired was Grant Miner, president of the Student Workers of Columbia (SWC) union.
According to the union, the expulsion occurred a day before contract negotiations were set to begin with the university on Friday. In a press release issued on Friday, they said: “Miner was expelled without any evidence after nearly a year of disciplinary proceedings.”
“The first bargaining session between SWC and Columbia begins Friday, where the Union will present demands to protect international and undocumented student workers.
"Mahmoud Khalil, a UAW card signer, was detained by the US government last week, making Miner the second SWC member to be targeted. The Union is demanding protections for international and undocumented students, which would make it more difficult for Columbia to cave to federal pressure by aiding the Department of Homeland Security in abducting student workers.”
At the time of publication, SWC said Columbia had cancelled bargaining two hours before negotiations were due to take place.