An anti-Israel student tore up her diploma during her commencement ceremony last Friday.
Tarsis Salome was one of several students who came to the ceremony wearing zip ties on their hands in protest against the university's decision to remove the tent encampment set up on the Columbia campus last month. The protesting students also carried pro-Palestinian signs.
Salome tore her diploma to shreds immediately upon receiving it.
Another student appeared to have the name of senior Hamas official Mazen Jamal Al-Natsheh written on her cap as she accepted her diploma, the New York Post reported.
The Students for Justice in Palestine Columbia chapter posted videos of the commencement protests and stated, "PhD students at Columbia walked out of their graduation in protest, leaving entire rows of seats completely empty. Meanwhile, GSAS [Graduate School of Arts and Sciences] MA students walked across the stage waving their Palestine flags. Two separate graduations, but the students remind us all of Palestine every time.”
Last week, Columbia University announced the cancelation of its university-wide commencement ceremony, following weeks of anti-Israel protests that rocked the campus. The school stated that the commencement would instead be held as “smaller-scale, school-based celebrations.”
The protests began with the establishment of an illegal tent encampment on the Columbia campus on April 17, setting off a trend that quickly spread to other campuses across the US.
Two weeks ago, anti-Israel protesters broke into and occupied Columbia University's Hamilton Hall. The following day, NYPD officers were brought in to remove the protesters from campus, and many were arrested.