Hundreds Harvard students walk out graduation ceremonies
Protests and encampments have led to 3,000 arrests at US universities.
Hundreds of Harvard students wearing graduation robes walked out of their graduation ceremony on Thursday in a show of solidarity with Palestine and the 13 students who were barred from attending the ceremony because of the protest encampment.
Students graduating from the top Ivy League school stood up during a graduation ceremony on Thursday and walked out chanting “Free, free Palestine” while others shouted, “Let them walk, let them walk.”The shouts referred to the 13 graduates who were not allowed to receive their diplomas with their classmates.
"This semester, our freedom of speech and expression of solidarity is being punished," said senior Shruthi Kumar using a moment from her student speech, as quoted by the Associated Press.
“I am very disappointed with the intolerance towards freedom of expression and the right to civil disobedience on campus,” he said.
He also gave awards to 13 students who were prohibited from participating in the graduation ceremony. His remarks received loud applause from the audience.
He explained that more than 1,500 students have submitted a petition, and nearly 500 staff and faculty members have spoken out about the sanctions imposed on them.
“This is about civil rights and upholding democratic principles,” he said. “The students have spoken. The teaching staff has spoken. Harvard, do you hear us?”
The ceremony was also attended by Maria Ressa, a journalist, Nobel Peace Prize winner and long-time supporter of free speech, who spoke as speaker at the graduation ceremony.
“Harvard, you are being tested,” he said. “Campus protests are testing everyone in America… Protests give people the vote; they must not be silenced.”
The graduation ceremony took place in historic Harvard Yard, where pro-Gaza protests and an encampment were set up last month.
The camp was disbanded on May 14 after the university announced that protesters had agreed to end the camp.
Earlier in the week, the faculty announced it had reinstated the 13 students to the list of those eligible to graduate. However, Harvard's governing board later reversed this after the students were found to have violated university policy with their behavior during the protest at the camp.
The board said in a statement on Wednesday that the students were not in good standing so they could not award degrees at this time.
“In making this decision, we noted that a clear provision in the Harvard College Student Handbook states that students who are not in good standing are not eligible to earn a degree,” the Harvard Corporation said. But he added that there was a possibility of an appeal.
Ms Kumar announced that she was leaving because she could not “in good conscience celebrate when their family is in pain.”
A crowd of students also walked out and reconvened at a Methodist church near Harvard Square for a “congregational commencement,” and spoke about those who lost their lives in Gaza, the New York Times reported.
At the ceremony, one spectator also waved an Israeli flag while half a dozen people waved Palestinian flags.
A small plane also circled above the graduates, trailing Israeli and U.S. flags, and a truck was parked outside campus with a billboard bearing the names and images of several pro-Palestinian protesters under a banner reading “Harvard's Prominent Antisemite.”
Protests have hit US campuses since Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, which killed 1,200 people. Israel's subsequent offensive on Gaza has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to the latest figures.
Demonstrations and encampments on campus have led other institutions such as USC to cancel their major commencement ceremonies last month.
Protests and encampments have led to 3,000 arrests at US universities.(independent)
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