Videos across social media show Columbia University students loudly booing during Acting President Claire Shipman’s commencement speech on May 20, 2025.
“Good morning, class of 2025,” Shipman can be heard saying in a video posted to X by @mollikajaisingh. “I know that many of you feel some amount of frustration with me, and I know you feel it with the administration,” she continues, over loud protests.
Columbia University has been the scene of many pro-Palestinian demonstrations in recent months (and since April 2024), including a sit-in at the school’s main Butler Library. Protests came to a head on May 8, 2025, when the New York Police Department (NYPD) showed up and reportedly arrested over 70 protestors.
Student protestors have long been demanding that Columbia financially divest from companies with ties to the Israeli government and Israeli companies over its actions in Gaza.
In a clip posted to X by Jessica Schwalb (@jessicaschwalb7), students can be heard yelling “you arrested us!” at Shipman.
In another of Schwalb’s videos, students can be heard chanting “FREE MAHMOUD!” in reference to Mahmoud Khalil, a student activist leader and green card holder who was arrested and remains in detention after being taken from his New York City apartment building by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in March 2025.
Columbia University is set to hold its university-wide commencement ceremony on Wednesday morning.
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