Columbia University students began graduating Friday, and for them and their families, it was a day to be proud.

“Very, very happy and very proud, especially us being a Latina, for her to graduate from Columbia. I am very, very happy and very excited,” said Yvette Almonte, whose daughter is earning her master’s degree.

They were proud even if the ceremonies were not held exactly as originally planned.

What You Need To Know

  • Columbia University has cancelled the large commencement ceremony that includes students in all the university's schools

  • Individual schools and colleges within Columbia will still hold their ceremonies — and those are the ones where students walk the stage

  • The first, for the School of Professional Studies, was held in two parts Friday morning

  • Those ceremonies have been moved off campus, with most being held at an athletic complex 100 blocks north, in Inwood

“I wish we were celebrating on Morningside Campus today, but alas, we are not,” Troy J. Eggers, the dean of the School of Professional Studies, told students during the ceremony.

After weeks of protests and resulting arrests, Columbia canceled its plan to hold a university-wide commencement on its Morningside Heights campus. Individual schools — like the School of Professional Studies, which held two ceremonies Friday morning — are still having their commencements. But they were moved about 100 blocks north of campus, to the school’s Baker Athletic Complex in Inwood.

“Columbia found a way. And I said ‘Well, that's amazing that she's going to be able to have a graduation, commencement,’” Almonte said.

The commencements come at a time of turmoil for the university, where for weeks pro-Palestinian students set up an encampment on a campus lawn before occupying an administrative building, Hamilton Hall. That led to arrests, and to the university largely locking its campus down.

“I’m still very glad that we get to walk,” Birthe Ongcheng, whose parents came from Taiwan to see her graduate with her master’s in applied analytics, said. “I think everybody has different priorities, and there are certain things going on in the world that are very important. So, to us, it's just — we celebrate our own wins, and everybody’s getting together, and I think that's the most important thing.”

The protests were mentioned briefly by some speakers during the ceremony, including the faculty speaker Gregory Wawro, the program director of the school’s Political Analytics department. He noted the turmoil had come at a time when trust in higher education is waning.

“Recent events on and around campus have not exactly been a PR bonanza for the academic campaign to win back hearts and minds,” he said. “So, to restore our credibility, I think we are going to have to turn to you, who are about to go forth into the world and deploy what you have learned here.”

Commencements for individual schools at Columbia will continue through next week.