Zip-Tie-Wearing Columbia Grad Rips Up Diploma on Commencement Stage
A Columbia University graduate continued to protest against the war in Gaza at their master’s degree commencement ceremony on Friday, ripping up her diploma the moment she was handed it.
In a video shared by Columbia’s Students for Justice in Palestine on social media, the unnamed graduate from the School of Social Work can be seen crossing the stage with their hands above their head to show off zip-tied wrists, a callback to the arrests of hundreds of protesters from Columbia’s campus in the past few weeks.
The graduate, who wears a keffiyeh around their shoulders, accepts the diploma, faces the crowd, and then makes a show of tearing up the papers before tossing it over their shoulder. In the video, the graduate then doffs their graduation cap to show the audience something written on the top of it.