Second ‘People’s Graduation’ organized to honor Mahmoud Khalil and family, Barnard, Columbia, and NYU graduates

The alternative graduation celebrated members of the Class of 2025 involved in pro-Palestinian activism who faced university disciplinary action or were pursued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Photo by Kimberly Wing/The Barnard Bulletin

By Kimberly Wing

August 22, 2025

Members of the Barnard College, Columbia University, and New York University communities attended “The People’s Graduation” at St. Paul and St. Andrew Methodist Church on Sunday, May 18, at 7:30 p.m. 

The event was organized by “The People’s University of Palestine,” an initiative affiliated with Columbia University Apartheid Divest, which describes itself as “a coalition of student organizations that see Palestine as the vanguard for our collective liberation.” This is the second People’s Graduation amid the war in Gaza, with the first organized after disciplinary actions at Columbia following the 2024 “Gaza Solidarity Encampment.”

The alternative graduation ceremony celebrated members of the Class of 2025 who were “wrongfully suspended and expelled from Columbia for speaking out against the genocide in Gaza,” according to the event’s RSVP form.

The 2025 ceremony also focused on advocating for the freedom of detained Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, whose images and name were prevalent in decorations throughout the church, as well as his wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, and their son, Deen, born in April 2025. Khalil completed his coursework in December 2024 and was expected to participate in SIPA’s 2025 graduation ceremony.

Display at the front of the church’s stage showing honorary degrees from “The People’s University of Palestine” for Mahmoud Khalil and his family, along with a set of Columbia graduation robes decorated in pro-Palestinian regalia.

Photo by Kimberly Wing/The Barnard Bulletin

The church was decorated in banners demanding Khalil’s freedom, and for Columbia to “name the trustees” who allegedly gave his information to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and to “[take] accountability now.” Projected photos showed various pro-Palestinian movements organized at Barnard, Columbia, and NYU throughout the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 academic years; personal photos of Khalil and Dr. Abdalla; and Mohsen Mahadawi (GS ’25) and Yunseo Chung (CC ’26), pro-Palestinian student activists who were pursued by ICE for deportation.

Shortly after The People’s Graduation, ICE seized their pursuits of Mahdawi and Chung. On April 30, 2025, a federal judge ordered the release of Mahdawi from prison on bail. Mahdawi walked across the stage during Columbia University School of General Studies’ Class of 2025 Ceremony and plans to attend SIPA for graduate school in the fall. Additionally, on June 5, 2025, a federal judge blocked ICE from detaining Chung, a U.S. permanent resident. Chung participated in various pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus, including the sit-in at Barnard’s Milstein Center.

Table display featuring flags, keychains, pins, and stickers for attendees to take.

Photo by Kimberly Wing/The Barnard Bulletin

The ceremony began at 7:50 p.m., with James Schamus, screenwriter and Professor of Professional Practice of Film and Media Studies at Columbia University, serving as the Master of Ceremonies. Schamus is listed as a faculty member for Columbia’s Center for Palestine Studies. As a Jewish filmmaker and faculty member, Schamus called for other Jewish faculty to “regardless of our differences of opinion over Israel, join now in common cause to fight the evil engulfing our students and colleagues,” referencing the second Trump administration’s funding cuts and policy changes for many American colleges and universities, including Columbia.

Schamus emphasized the ceremony as a “sanctified space” and condemned NYU for “[withholding Logan Rozos’] diploma.” During his speech for NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study’s 2025 graduation ceremony, Rozos denounced Israel’s actions amid the Gaza war. 

Schamus also praised graduates for standing up for Palestine, despite the risk of many American universities withholding, delaying, and revoking degrees, as well as the possibility of suspensions and expulsions.

Banner in front of the podium where graduation speakers delivered speeches. The banner includes notable symbols of Palestine, including poppies and the logo of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. 

Photo by Kimberly Wing/The Barnard Bulletin

“All of you have held each other up, have risked, inspired, and moved,” Schamus stated. He asked graduates who advocated for Palestine during their time in college to stand up, and more than twenty students stood and received applause from the audience.

Speakers included Mohammed el-Kurd, a Palestinian poet and writer and author of the New York Times bestseller “Perfect Victims: And the Politics of Appeal”; Andrew Ross, NYU professor of Social and Cultural Analysis; actress and activist Susan Sarandon; Dr. Noor Abdalla; and Shayoni Mitra, a senior lecturer in theatre at Barnard.

Several Columbia and NYU students involved in pro-Palestinian activism, including former Columbia students who were expelled, also delivered speeches, praising fellow activists and expressing disapproval with their institution’s disciplinary actions against pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

El-Kurd criticized Columbia, the City University of New York system, and NYU, stating: “They wrap themselves in the language of human rights, equity, and freedom, then they expel students for practicing those values. Those universities sit atop mountains of contradictions, and when you point to the cracks in their foundation, they respond with punishment.”

Professor Andrew Ross, who was arrested during a demonstration outside of NYU’s Bobst Library in December 2024, stated that The People’s Graduation represented “the real NYU [and] the real Columbia,” which includes students, faculty, and staff “who respect each other’s labor, intellect, and politics, and who look out for one another.”

“You are seen and heard in Palestine itself. What you do for Palestine here is seen by people in Palestine. When you speak up for Palestine here, you are heard by people in Palestine, and it’s important to remember that, and these are a people who have been stripped of every right under the sun,” Professor Ross addressed graduates.

He also observed that, during demonstrations, pro-Palestinian student activists have learned how to “organize under authoritarianism.”

Susan Sarandon, who has repeatedly voiced support for Palestine since the Gaza war began in October 2023, told the audience, “To be able to thank you all in person for strengthening hope, for the liberation of the Palestinian people, for putting your bodies on the line to make sure that this genocide is not normalized, and for living your lives as human beings should with courage and clearness and conviction, I thank you so much from the bottom of my heart.”

Sarandon read a quote from Howard Zinn before introducing Dr. Noor Abdalla as the next speaker, stating that “her strength is quiet but unmistakable.”

Dr. Abdalla, a dentist, was pregnant when her husband, Mahmoud Khalil, was detained by ICE in the lobby of a Columbia University-owned apartment building. ICE denied Khalil’s request to be temporarily released from a Louisiana detention center to attend the birth of his son, Deen. Khalil instead communicated with Abdalla over the phone while she gave birth on April 21, 2025. She thanked faculty and students who spoke out for Palestine, and those who messaged and supported her and Khalil’s family after his detainment.

Dr. Noor Abdalla delivering her speech. The screen switched from personal photos of Abdalla and Khalil, along with their and Deen Khalil’s honorary diplomas from “The People’s University of Palestine.”

Photo by Kimberly Wing/The Barnard Bulletin

“Mahmoud never had a high school graduation. He didn’t get to walk at his undergraduate commencement. He has never worn a cap and gown, never had the moment to be publicly celebrated for his academic achievements,” Dr. Abdalla said.

Later in her speech, she expressed her admiration for student activists, stating, “Every day since Deen was born, I understand more and more why this struggle matters. I hope he grows up to be as brave as his father, and as brave as every single student here who has risked so much — your education, your safety, even your futures — to speak up for Palestine.”

Dr. Abdalla received a standing ovation from the crowd after concluding her speech. On May 22, four days after The People’s Graduation, Khalil was permitted by a federal judge to hold his son.

Shayoni Mitra, a senior lecturer in Barnard’s theatre department whose work explores the intersection of performance and politics, praised students whose “leadership [is] holding our institutions and governments accountable.”

“I saw firsthand the love with which you held each other. You, my students, you remade this city. You sat in cells together, you went to each other’s court dates, you melted the divides between institutions and communities and neighborhoods, and just kept showing up for each other,” Mitra stated.

Diala Shamas, Senior Staff Attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, read out the names of graduating students who would be recognized at the ceremony. Dr. Abdalla and Deen, with the latter wearing infant-sized Columbia graduation robes and a cap with the Palestinian flag, were the first to receive an honorary diploma on behalf of Khalil. 

Tunisian-American singer Emel Mathlouthi sang “We Shall Overcome” as students received their honorary diplomas from “The People’s University of Palestine” for their pro-Palestinian activism in college. 

Mathlouthi performed an original composition before the ceremony concluded around 9:30 p.m. In an Instagram post, she stated, “[being] surrounded by powerful voices and the unwavering bravery of Columbia’s students, I felt deep solidarity and hope.”

On June 21, 2025, Khalil was released from the ICE detention center in Louisiana and reunited with Dr. Abdalla and Deen. While Khalil’s green card was returned, he was required to surrender his Syrian passport, but was given official documents that permitted travel to certain states throughout the United States for family visitations and court appearances.

“The U.S. government is funding this genocide, and Columbia University is investing in this genocide,” Khalil said in a press statement after arriving at Newark Airport, “This is why I will continue to protest with every one of you. Not only if they threaten me with detention. Even if they would kill me, I would still speak up for Palestine.”

“Whether you are a citizen, an immigrant, anyone in this land, you’re not illegal. That doesn’t make you less of a human,” Khalil stated.