A Peaceful Protest, a Harsh Punishment
More than 70 students at Columbia University are facing disciplinary action. Some were suspended. Others expelled. Their offense? Participating in a peaceful protest in front of Butler Library, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and speaking out against what they saw as complicity in genocide.
There was no violence. No vandalism. No threats. Just tents, banners, and students using their voices on their own campus. In any country that values free expression, this should have been a non-story. But this is America in 2025.
And Columbia didn’t stand by them. It turned on them.
The Billion-Dollar Question
At the same time this crackdown was happening, Columbia was negotiating with the federal government to unlock $1 billion in frozen research funding. That is not speculation. It is public record.
So here is the question no one at the university seems eager to answer: was this really about enforcing policy, or was it about protecting a payday
?
The timing says everything. These students were not disciplined to maintain campus order. They were sacrificed to demonstrate political loyalty. The message was clear: Columbia can be cooperative if Washington pays up.
Redefining Antisemitism, Redefining Dissent
Columbia has also been implementing what it calls “enhanced anti-antisemitism measures.” But critics, including many Jewish academics, have pointed out that these measures conflate political criticism of Israel with actual antisemitic hate.
This is where it becomes dangerous. When criticism of government policy—any government—is treated as bigotry, meaningful conversation becomes nearly impossible. The university is not protecting Jewish students from discrimination. It is shielding a foreign government from accountability.
Students who oppose war and support human rights are now being labeled as extremists. Not because they are hateful, but because they dared to challenge the approved narrative.
The Absurd Logic of “Safety”
Columbia claims the protests made some students feel “unsafe.” But let’s be honest—what exactly was the threat?
Signs that say “ceasefire”? Tents on a lawn? Or is the real discomfort coming from the fact that young people are calling out their own institutions for funding bombs instead of books?
Watching Gaza get destroyed does not seem to alarm the administration. But watching students stand in solidarity with civilians under siege? That crosses the line.
A University That Won’t Defend Its Own
Columbia is no longer acting like a place of learning. It is acting like an extension of the federal government. When a university prioritizes its relationship with Washington over its duty to students, it stops being an academic institution and becomes a compliance center.
And to be blunt, a school that refuses to protect its own students for engaging in peaceful protest is a failure. Worse than that, it is a tool. A knife in the hand of power, used not to educate, but to punish anyone who steps out of line.
What Free Speech?
If a student in the United States can be expelled for holding a sign that says “ceasefire,” then we need to confront an uncomfortable truth: free speech does not apply when it threatens the wrong interests.
Universities are supposed to be places where debate happens. Where young people learn how to think, not what to think. Where dissent is protected, not criminalized. But right now, students are being taught a different lesson. Shut up, stay quiet, and never challenge the people with money or power.
The Bottom Line
Columbia University did not just fail its students. It sold them out. For money. For approval. For political convenience.
This is not just about campus discipline. It is about a larger national trend. If even the most elite universities are willing to crush peaceful protest in exchange for federal cash, what hope is there for anyone else?
If you are a student, educator, parent, or simply someone who still believes in free expression, ask yourself this: how much longer are we going to pretend this is okay?
Because it is not. And the cost of silence is rising.
