After weeks of protests and encampment on campus by pro-Palestine demonstrators, Columbia University has ditched its main graduation ceremony for smaller ones in each of its 19 colleges.

“We have decided to make the centrepiece of our commencement activities our class days and school-level ceremonies, where students are honoured individually alongside their peers, rather than the university-wide ceremony that is scheduled for May 15,” the institution said in a statement on Monday.

Columbia University’s New York campus has been on lockdown since last Tuesday when the New York Police Department (NYPD) entered the school to forcibly remove hundreds of student protesters, who had been camping on the campus for weeks and started taking over buildings.

Many of the protesters were detained and arrested by the police, as Columbia had already suspended them, thus making their presence on campus illegal after a Monday deadline to vacate the university’s premises elapsed last Monday.

Columbia University maintained that the school campus remains a crime scene as police are still posted to the area, making it difficult for the institution to accommodate its 15,000 graduates and their guests for a general commencement ceremony.

Meanwhile, the university has ultimately devised a plan to conduct the ceremony on a small scale for each of its 19 colleges on May 15, stating that “our students emphasised that these smaller-scale, school-based celebrations are most meaningful to them and their families.”

“They are eager to cross the stage to applause and family pride and hear from their school’s invited guest speakers. 

“As a result, we will focus our resources on those school ceremonies and on keeping them safe, respectful, and running smoothly,” the statement added.