Columbia University announced Tuesday that it had punished students for participating in two school protests, including one at the library over its financial ties to Israel.
In a lengthy statement, the university said it was punishing an unspecified number of students who participated in a pro-Palestinian protest at the university’s library in May and a similar demonstration during its annual alumni weekend last year.
The statement said the school would not “individual disciplinary results of any student,” but it noted the “sanctions from Butler Library include probation, suspensions (ranging from one year to three years), degree revocations, and expulsions.”
“Our institution must focus on delivering on its academic mission for our community,” the university said. “And to create a thriving academic community, there must be respect for each other and the institution’s fundamental work, policies, and rules.”
“Disruptions to academic activities are in violation of University policies and Rules, and such violations will necessarily generate consequences,” it added.
Columbia University did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
The Ivy League school’s disciplinary crackdown comes several months after the Trump administration cut hundreds of millions of dollars in federal research grants to the university.
Following those cuts, Columbia implemented a long list of new policies at the request of the Trump administration to begin negotiations on restoring federal funding.
The university agreed to adjust its disciplinary process, ban masks at protests in most cases and enlist dozens of new security officers, among other things, according to a document the university said it shared with the federal government and posted on its website.
At the protest in May, dozens of demonstrators took over a room of the university’s library, as students were studying for final exams. The group wore keffiyehs, chanted slogans and clashed with police and campus security officers, video of the protest posted on social media shows.
The demonstration resulted in the arrest o
