Columbia University in New York City announced on Monday that it has canceled its university-wide graduation ceremony amid ongoing pro-Palestinian protests, but it will hold smaller celebrations on campus this week and next week.

Officials at the Ivy League universities in Upper Manhattan said in a statement: "Based on feedback from our students, we have decided to focus on the semester days and college-level graduation ceremonies, where students are honored individually alongside their peers, and to forgo the university-wide ceremony scheduled for May 15."

Pointing out that the past few weeks have been "extremely difficult" for the community, the university stated in its announcement that it made the decision after discussions with students, and officials said: “Our students have confirmed that these smaller-scale school celebrations mean more to them and their families. They are eager to walk across the stage to applause and family pride and listen to invited guest speakers from their universities."

Officials confirmed that most of the celebrations that were scheduled in the South Lawn of the main campus, where the encampments were cleared last week, will be held about five miles north at the Columbia Sports Complex.

Columbia had already canceled in-person classes. Over 100 pro-Palestinian protesters who had occupied the Columbia Green area last month were arrested, and similar camps appeared at universities across the country as schools struggled to draw the line between allowing free expression while maintaining a safe and inclusive campus.

Southern California University previously canceled its main graduation ceremony while allowing other commencement activities to continue. Students left their camp at Southern California University early on Sunday after police surrounded them and threatened them with arrest.

The protests stem from the conflict that began on October 7 when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking nearly 250 hostages. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and launched an offensive on Gaza that has resulted in the deaths of more than 34,500 Palestinians, about two-thirds of whom are women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory. Israeli strikes have devastated the region and displaced most of its population.