Columbia University in New York, focus of the protest movement against the war on the Gaza Strip, announced today that it will not hold its grand graduation ceremony on May 15, opting for “smaller-scale” school-focused events.

The institution, where activists and students were forcibly removed on April 30 by New York police, said in a press release that it was canceling “the university’s major ceremony scheduled for May 15.”

“All ceremonies planned outdoors on the southern portion of the Morningside campus will be moved” from that location in northern Manhattan to a university sports complex, according to a news release.

Columbia, rocked for two weeks by a protest and sit-in movement by pro-Palestinian activists and students, said it would prefer “smaller-scale” ceremonies to be held May 10-16 in New York.

“Our students emphasized the fact that these smaller-scale ceremonies are more important to them and their families,” the Columbia administration emphasizes.