Columbia AI graduation protest

Columbia University students and faculty protested this month over the school’s decision to use an artificial-intelligence voice tool to read graduates’ names during 2026 Class Day ceremonies. The demonstration took place on May 13 outside Columbia’s 116th Street and Broadway gates, according to Columbia Spectator, nearly a week before the university’s May 20 commencement ceremonies. Protesters said the issue was not only the technology itself, but the use of automation at one of the most personal moments in a student’s academic career. ### Which graduation ceremonies were at the center of the protest? Columbia University said its 272nd academic year commencement would take place on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, with separate ceremonies for graduate and undergraduate degree candidates on the Morningside campus. The protest focused on the university’s school-specific Class Day events, where individual graduates cross the stage and have their names announced. (columbiaspectator.com) Columbia Spectator reported that, for the second year in a row, the university planned to use an AI tool to read students’ names during those Class Day ceremonies. The publication said the tool, called Tassel, would read names as students crossed the stage. ### What exactly is the AI tool doing? (commencement.columbia.edu) Tassel is being used to voice graduates’ names, according to Columbia Spectator. Students submit their preferred name pronunciation in advance and can review it before their ceremony, the student newspaper reported. A university official told Spectator that the tool helps ceremonies run on time. (columbiaspectator.com) Spectator also reported that Columbia began using the tool last year after deciding in 2024 to standardize Tassel’s use for the 2025 commencement cycle, and that some Columbia schools had already worked with Tassel for years. Prior to 2025, select professors read the names of graduating seniors as they walked the stage, Spectator said. ### Why did students object if the names could still be pronounced correctly? A dozen protesters gathered at the campus gates on May 13 to oppose what they described as the outsourcing of a human ceremonial role, according to Spectator. Their chants included “Fund grad students, fuck AI, don’t let education die” and “Say it loud, say it clear, AI is not welcome here,” the publication reported. (columbiaspectator.com) The same protest included signs reading “Human Art, Human Heart,” “Stop AI Slop,” “Claude is a Fraud,” and “Remember when you did it without AI,” according to Spectator. Those details showed that the objection extended beyond name-reading logistics to a broader resistance to AI systems appearing in university life. (columbiaspectator.com) ### Was the protest only about graduation? Columbia Spectator reported that demonstrators also criticized Columbia’s AI partnerships beyond commencement. The article said protesters spoke against the university’s Claude Pro subscription and called on Columbia to avoid in-house chatbots and disclose any potential financial ties with AI companies. (columbiaspectator.com) On May 5, Columbia released “Claude for Education,” which provides affiliates with free access to advanced models of the AI assistant, Spectator reported. The student newspaper said the university also has similar access programs for ChatGPT and Google Gemini. ### What happens next? Columbia University’s commencement website said the university-wide ceremonies were set for May 20, 2026, with the graduate ceremony scheduled for 10:30 a.m. and the undergraduate ceremony for 5 p.m. on the Morningside campus. (columbiaspectator.com) School-specific Class Day events were proceeding as part of the broader commencement schedule. (commencement.columbia.edu)