A post shared on social media purports that a Pro-Palestine slogan was misspelled on the staircase at Columbia University.

Palestine misspelled on the stairs of Columbia really captures the state of higher education. pic.twitter.com/CQ6U9yWHn6

— David/Dovid Bashevkin (@DBashIdeas) May 7, 2024

Verdict: False

This claim is inaccurate. This photo was not taken at Columbia.

Fact Check:

Columbia University cancelled their commencement ceremony and other colleges are considering doing the same, NBC News reported. The ceremony will be replaced by a smaller scale celebration while seniors and their parents have expressed their disappointment.

A post shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, shows a photo allegedly taken at a building on Columbia University’s campus. The photo shows the misspelled slogan “Free Palastine” on the staircase of a campus hall.

The caption reads, “Palestine misspelled on the stairs of Columbia really captures the state of higher education.”

The claim is inaccurate. The photo does not show Columbia University’s campus. The stairs are on University of Ottawa’s campus Tabaret Hall. The Fulcrum, the University of Ottawa’s independent student newspaper, reported on the graffiti and included an image of the same steps.

The university steps and the misspelling appear in Macklemore’s latest song called “Hind’s Hall,” which refers to Hamilton Hall. The building that student protesters occupied at Columbia University and called Hind Hall after a Palestine civilian killed in Gaza, according to Al Jazeera. (RELATED: Did Protesters At George Washington University Raise The Hamas Flag?)

This is not the first time misinformation has been shared online. Check Your Fact debunked a claim Harvard University officials replaced the US flag with the Palestinian flag.