Columbia's School of General Studies reposted an Instagram story congratulating the first graduating class of the Columbia-Tel Aviv University dual-degree program, only to delete the story two hours later, according to Columbia Jewish & Israeli Students' post on X.
For the past several weeks, tensions have been rising at Columbia as anti-Israel protests were getting out of hand, occupying campus grounds with an encampment as well as Hamilton Hall – one of the main administration buildings – resulting in violent incidents that have eventually led to a New York Police Department raid on campus to evacuate and arrest protestors, allowed by the university's President Minouche Shafik. Due to these events, the administration has decided to cancel the main commencement ceremony.
Columbia's School of General Studies reposted an Instagram story congratulating the first graduating class of the Columbia-Tel Aviv University dual-degree program.
Less than two hours later, they deleted it. pic.twitter.com/uancsJP29N
— Columbia Jewish & Israeli Students ✡️🇮🇱 (@CUJewsIsraelis) May 15, 2024
One of the protest's demands to Columbia was to effectively divest financially from Israel, cancel the Tel Aviv Global Center, and end Columbia's dual degree program with Tel Aviv University as proposed by the Columbia University Apartheid Divest movement, as published in the Columbia Spectator. This proposal has been receiving much support, which might have led to the deletion of the Instagram story.
"Columbia University welcomes and embraces the Israeli students, faculty, and staff on our campus," a University spokesperson told the Columbia Spectator. "We also benefit greatly from our dual degree program with Tel Aviv University."
Although none of these demands were met, this incident underscored the continued unrest on campus and the grim reality that Jewish and Israeli students face. Israel Hayom was unable to verify this story independently, yet as of Thursday afternoon – no such story appears on Columbia's official Instagram page.
