Pro-Palestinian protests disrupted college commencement ceremonies across the country on Saturday, with demonstrations ranging from walkouts to chants. At Xavier University in Cincinnati, two protesters were arrested for refusing to move to a designated demonstration area, while at the University of California, Berkeley, security had to work to remove chanting protesters. Similarly, at Virginia Commonwealth University, students walked out as Gov. Glen Youngkin was set to give a commencement address, citing his views on LGBTQ+ rights and other controversial topics.
In response to the protests, Youngkin’s speech continued uninterrupted, with his office pointing media to his remarks and a post congratulating the graduating class. At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, protesters defaced a campus building with red paint and set up an encampment ahead of the commencement ceremony. Meanwhile, other colleges like the University of Texas at Austin increased security measures for their own upcoming graduations.
Protests against the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza have been spreading across college campuses in the U.S. since mid-April, with students at Columbia University setting up an encampment to call for the school to cut financial ties with Israel. Similar protests have occurred at schools like UCLA, Princeton, and the University of Texas at Austin, leading to clashes with police and sparking debates about free speech. Over 2,800 arrests have been made at campuses nationwide, prompting some schools to cancel or relocate their commencement events in fear of disruptions.
Looking ahead, several schools that have seen protests on Saturday are set to hold commencement ceremonies on Sunday, including Pomona College and Emerson College. These events will be closely watched to see if protests continue and how schools and law enforcement respond to potential disruptions. As tensions around the Israel-Hamas conflict continue to stir emotions on college campuses, it remains to be seen how students and school leaders will navigate these heated discussions in the context of graduation ceremonies.
