Columbia University’s acting President Claire Shipman was drowned out by angry boo and chants at the school’s graduation ceremony Tuesday morning.
Videos circulating on social media captured Shipman stepping onto the stage amidst a chorus of outcries from the audience, who were furious about the arrest of graduate student Mahmoud Khali by ICE agents at his apartment in New York City.
“I understand that many of you are upset with me, and with the administration,” Shipman stated, as he attempted to speak over the crowd’s boos.
At one point, she paused her speech for a full 30 seconds as the crowd chanted “free Mahmoud.”
Khalil, a Palestinian with a green card, had been leading anti-Israel demonstrations at Columbia and was reportedly “engaging in activities associated with Hamas,” according to federal authorities.
He is being held in an ICE detention center in Louisiana, but his attorneys are fighting his impending deportation.
