At a recent graduation ceremony at Columbia University, social work students exhibited a distressing display of support for Palestine, including the act of symbolic self-imprisonment with zip ties and tearing their diplomas apart on stage. This incident followed the cessation of anti-Israel protests that had paralysed the campus for an extended period. These behaviors were visible in a livestream of the event; a notable participant was a graduate named Tarsis Salome.

Salome was witnessed with zip ties fastened around her wrists, a gesture that has garnered controversy. As she advanced towards the school official to receive her diploma, a small group of peers in the assembly were heard encouraging her through their applause. She proceeded to tear up her diploma into fragments and scattered them onto the stage, providing a spectacle unlike any traditional commencement ceremony.

Maliha Fairooz, another graduate, made a similar strong political statement. As reported by The New York Post, Fairooz had the audacious stunt of striding across the stage with her wrists bound and exhibiting the name of a Hamas leader inscribed on her graduation cap. These acts of defiance against convention and respect were noted as being in poor taste, especially in the setting of a grand occasion such as a graduation ceremony.

This regrettable exhibition surfaced in the wake of the university's decision to cancel its comprehensive commencement event— a decision attributed to the disruptive demonstrations. In response to the upheaval, Columbia resolved to abandon their large-scale commencement scheduled for May 15, electing instead for a series of smaller, more personal, convocations spread over an entire week.