Students will instead have smaller, school-based ceremonies.

Other universities, such as Emory, have also made changes due to protests and COVID-19 disruptions.

Columbia's president, Minouche Shafik, was set to give a commencement address where a protest encampment was dismantled by police last week.

Columbia University in upper Manhattan has decided to move its graduation ceremonies from the main campus to its sports complex, about 5 miles north, following discussions with students.

The decision was made after students expressed that smaller-scale, school-based celebrations are more meaningful to them and their families.

The ceremonies were originally scheduled for the south lawn, where encampments were recently taken down after protests by over 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators who were arrested.

Some speakers at the still-scheduled graduation ceremonies include Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright James Ijames and Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, director of the National Institutes of Health.

In-person classes at Columbia have already been canceled.

Universities across the US have faced challenges in balancing free expression and campus safety during graduation ceremonies.

Some universities, like the University of Southern California, have canceled or moved ceremonies due to potential protests.

Others have increased security.

At USC, students abandoned their protest camp after being confronted by police.

The University of Michigan's ceremony was interrupted by chanting, while Northeastern University's in Boston saw students wave flags.

Emory University will hold its ceremonies at a location outside of its Atlanta campus for safety reasons.

Emory University, with approximately 16,000 students, has decided against holding commencement events due to safety concerns following repeated protests related to the Israel-Gaza conflict.

The university consulted with law enforcement, security advisers, and other agencies, all of which advised against the events.

The conflict began on October 7, 2021, when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, resulting in the deaths of about 1,200 civilians and the taking of roughly 250 hostages.

Students are calling for their schools to divest from companies doing business with Israel or contributing to the war effort.

Israel responded with an offensive in Gaza, resulting in over 34,500 Palestinian deaths, about two-thirds of whom were women and children.

Israeli strikes on Gaza have caused extensive damage and displaced many residents.

Hamas agreed to an Egyptian-Qatari ceasefire proposal, but Israel rejected it, continuing attacks on Rafah.

Protesters at George Washington University vowed to continue demonstrations until the school divests from Israel.

UCLA moved all classes online due to disruptions following the removal of a pro-Palestinian encampment.

Ceasefires are temporary, and tensions remain high.

University police reported 44 arrests at unspecified protests, with 64 arrests at the University of California, San Diego.

Schools are using tactics from appeasement to threats to remove protesters from encampments, with some offering amnesty for moving or leaving voluntarily.

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago made such an offer to protesters on their Facebook page.

UNC faculty and staff are requesting amnesty for arrested and suspended students involved in protests, while Harvard University's interim president is threatening students participating in a pro-Palestinian encampment with "involuntary leave," which could result in loss of housing, exam restrictions, and campus access.

Over 500 UNC faculty support the student activists.

At MIT, police enforced an eviction of a Palestinian solidarity encampment after the deadline passed.

Around 200 protesters rallied outside, chanting for Palestine's freedom.