Columbia University has expelled, suspended or revoked degrees of students who occupied a campus hall during pro-Palestinian demonstrations in April 2024, the university said on Thursday.

Students were issued with punishments based on the “severity of behaviour at these events” and past infractions, if any, a statement from Columbia read.

The move is the university’s response to a crackdown on student activists in the United States who led pro-Palestine demonstrations last year amid Israel’s war on Gaza, and called for their schools to cut financial ties with Israel.

It also comes after the government cut $400m in federal funding for Columbia on March 7. The university was one of 60 institutions threatened with further cuts in a letter from US authorities this week.