‘Some amount of frustration with me’: Columbia University president smirks through deafening boos from graduating students

Columbia University has distinguished itself over the last year by betraying its students, undermining its principles, and stamping down hard on dissent. The mood among students and staff is mutinous, making acting President Claire Shipman’s graduation ceremony speech an absolute farce.

From the moment she walked on stage she was met with a deafening chorus of boos and jeers. Shipman smirked in response, but was briefly unable to begin her speech due to the sheer amount of disgust and hatred emanating from the unhappy crowd.

Beginning with admitting that “many of you feel some amount of frustration with me and I know you feel it with the administration”, Shipman appeared to rile up the crowd by referencing the university’s “strong tradition of freedom of speech”, before being drowned out by further boos:

Columbia University Acting President Claire Shipman welcomed to Columbia College's graduation ceremony with sustained jeers and boos.

Minutes later, students break out in loud chants of "Free Mahmoud": pic.twitter.com/QJit91wydm

— Prem Thakker (@prem_thakker) May 20, 2025

What freedom of speech?

It’s a bit rich for Shipman to begin talking about freedom of speech, as the academic year has been defined by the university permitting ICE to snatch pro-Palestinian graduate student and organizer Mahmoud Khalil, who remains imprisoned in Louisiana. Furious students began chanting “free Mahmoud” in an attempt to drown out her speech, though erupted into cheers when his name was read out during the ceremony as students accepted diplomas.

The ongoing controversy has already seen multiple heads roll at the university. Former president Dr. Minouche Shafik resigned after widespread criticism of her handling of campus protests. She was replaced by interim president Katrina Armstrong, who also only lasted a short time before leaving. Shipman is now the current acting president, though who knows how long she’ll last.

That said, she at least has the important ability to blithely grin in the face of disgust from the students, which is increasingly looking like a key quality college leaders need to have:

The ability to spout platitudes while smirking your way through absorbing the hatred and disgust of others has always been a very well compensated skill among the elite professions and my guess it will only get more valuable as time goes on. https://t.co/hd4lRHm7i0

— Will 🦥 Menaker (@willmenaker) May 20, 2025

It remains to be seen where Columbia University goes from here, though it’s difficult to come back from, as one comment points out, having “the police beat the **** out of her own students for protesting mass murder.”