How student protests are changing college graduations
Many of this year's graduating college students were looking forward to their first formal commencement ceremony.
"I was a 2020 graduate in high school," says Isa Johnson, a senior at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Because of the pandemic, her high school graduation couldn't happen in person.
She was excited to finally get a traditional graduation this year, but the unrest on her campus has forced her to adjust her expectations.
After Jewish student organizations at USC raised concerns about valedictorian Asna Tabassum's past social media activity, the school cut Tabassum's speech from commencement. Other sStudents rushed to her defense, and marched on campus in support. Eventually, the administration canceled the school's main commencement, citing safety concerns.
"We were finally going to be able to have... graduation," Johnson says, "and then within a whole week it was all taken away."
Across the country, protests on college campuses are running up against graduation season. Over the weekend, ceremonies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and Indiana University Bloomington were marked by protests. Graduating students in Michigan interrupted the ceremony with chants, Palestinian flags and banners. At Indiana's commencement, a plane with a banner that read "LET GAZA LIVE!" flew overhead and a group of graduating students staged a walkout.
Schools with upcoming ceremonies are announcing extra safety precautions and venue changes. On Monday, following weeks of campus tensions, Columbia University in New York City joined USC in canceling its main ceremony. It's also moving smaller, school-based ceremonies off the main lawn, where protestors have been gathering, and into an outdoor sports venue. Also on Monday, Emory University, in Atlanta, said it was moving the ceremony to a venue in Duluth, Ga., over 20 miles away.
Johnson, at USC, says she understands why students feel the need to protest, but a lot of her classmates are upset about how their graduation has been affected.
"They're kind of just like, you know, 'I want a normal graduation.' I just wish things could be normal on campus. The atmosphere on campus isn't what it usually is," she says. "I think it makes a lot of people uncomfortable."
How campuses are preparing for graduation
After Oct. 7 – when Hamas attacked Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking at least 240 hostages – Israel retaliated by bombarding Gaza. That war has killed at least 34,622 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
In mid-April, college students on campuses around the country began protesting in support of Palestinians. Students are calling for their schools to divest from companies that do business with Israel, among other demands. The movement has led to the arrest of at least 2,500 protestors, according to the Associated Press.
Students are organizing in highly visible spaces on campus, like the main quad of a school, and they're often opting for sit-ins rather than passing protests with a scheduled beginning and end. At several schools, students have formed encampments, pitching tents and living outside for days at a time.
At the same time, campuses are preparing to receive families eager to celebrate graduation.
At Cal Poly Humboldt in Arcata, Calif., the school is still cleaning up from a protest that ended with the student occupation of two campus buildings. The school says graduation ceremonies this coming weekend will be modified for security and held at three off-campus sites, as the campus remains closed.
At Wesleyan University in Connecticut, the school says it will not disperse the student encampment on the main lawn, so it may still be up during graduation at the end of May. At Harvard University, students are camped on Harvard Yard, but not in a place that would interfere with commencement later this month. Still, in a message to the school community on Monday, Interim President Alan Garber said students who continue to participate in the encampment "will be referred for involuntary leave."
At other colleges, administrators have negotiated agreements with protesting students. Protestors at Brown University recently agreed to clear their encampment in exchange for a divestment vote later this fall by the school's governing board.
Brown sophomore Daniel Solomon sits on the school's Student Organizing Committee on Antisemitism, and was involved in the negotiations.
"A big part of the discussion was not interrupting commencement and reunion weekend and to have a peaceful reading period, to have a peaceful finals period," he explains.
Other students have different priorities. NPR spoke with students who were part of the protests at UCLA and Columbia, two schools that saw confrontations between students as well as with police. Many didn't want to be named because they were concerned about doxxing, but they said they felt that raising awareness about what's happening in Gaza is more important than commencement ceremonies.
Not every campus is steeped in turmoil
Other campuses have seen little to no disruption from protests. At some of these schools, classes have wrapped for the year and students' minds are elsewhere. Charles Burns, a fourth year student at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, described a scene from his last ever undergraduate class:
"My professor asked us, 'OK, if any of you guys were at, say, Columbia or Brown or any of these campuses, how many of you would be participating in an encampment?' And... this is like a huge class – like 150 to 200 kids – maybe like 1 or 2 raise their hands."
Over the weekend, the University of Virginia's small encampment did get broken up by police and several people were arrested. Since then things have been quiet, and Burns is hoping they stay that way. As with Johnson at USC, this will be his first official graduation. In 2020, because of the pandemic, he had a drive-through high school commencement.
He's excited to get the full experience this year, and to have his grandparents make the trip from Kansas City to Charlottesville.
"Any kind of disruption to my college graduation... that would be a huge bummer. So I can only hope it doesn't happen. We'll see."
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Transcript
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The unrest on many college campuses is running up against graduation season. Some schools have canceled big commencement ceremonies. Others are increasing security. NPR's education reporter Sequoia Carrillo is here to talk about it. Good morning, Sequoia.
SEQUOIA CARRILLO, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: So how could these campus protests disrupt graduation?
CARRILLO: So, a big tactic of these student groups is to set up camp in a very visible place. The protests often occupy the main quad of campus. The model for many schools has been Columbia, where students set up an encampment with tents and sleeping bags and were essentially living on the main quad. Harvard, Brown, Yale, Howard, Wesleyan, Cal Poly Humboldt all had or still have encampments of some kind, so these are not passing protests. They're sit-ins at the center of campus, the center that's usually full of students and their loved ones during graduation.
MARTIN: So we understand that USC and Columbia have canceled those main ceremony events. Are we going to see more of this?
CARRILLO: That's right. Yesterday, Columbia announced they're canceling the university-wide ceremony to focus their resources on smaller ceremonies where students will be able to walk. They're also relocating those ceremonies away from the main lawn. USC is a bit different. The school canceled the valedictorian speech after some Jewish student organizations raised concerns about Asna Tabassum, their valedictorian's past social media activity. After that, students rushed to her defense and marched on campus. Eventually, the administration canceled commencement, citing safety concerns. I spoke with many schools last week and it's clear they're on high alert. They don't want to cancel but some commencements will definitely look different.
MARTIN: You know, I have just to say, this is a big deal. Some students may be the first in their families to graduate from college. They may have family members coming in. And also, a lot of seniors in this year's graduating class also missed high school graduation four years ago because of the pandemic. I was just wondering if the students you've talked to talked about that.
CARRILLO: That's right, and students have a ton to say about this. Here, we can listen to them.
ISA JOHNSON: My name is Isa Johnson (ph), and I'm 21.
CARRILLO: Johnson is a journalism major at the University of Southern California. She's also about to graduate.
JOHNSON: I was really looking forward to this time of the year, to be able to, like, celebrate. And I was a 2020 graduate in high school as well. So we were finally going to be able to have this graduation and then within a whole week, it was, like, all taken away.
CARRILLO: She says she understands why students feel the need to protest, but a lot of her classmates are upset.
JOHNSON: They're kind of just like, you know, I want a normal graduation. I just wish things could be normal on campus. And I think it makes a lot of people uncomfortable.
DANIEL SOLOMON: My name is Daniel Solomon, and I sit on Brown's student organizing committee on antisemitism.
CARRILLO: Solomon is a Jewish student from Miami at Brown University and has been pleasantly surprised with the way protests happened on his campus. The protesting students recently reached an agreement with administration to clear the encampment in exchange for a vote later this fall on demands that the university divest from companies doing business with Israel, which has been a big issue on many campuses.
SOLOMON: A big part of the discussion was not interrupting commencement and reunion weekend. I think generally the sentiment is that it's a beautiful day, we want to sit on the main green.
CARRILLO: I also spoke with students who are part of the protests at UCLA and Columbia. Many didn't want to be named or recorded because they were concerned about doxxing, but they said they felt that raising awareness about what's happening in Gaza is more important than commencement ceremonies. But on many campuses around the country, there's been little to no disruption from protests - classes are over and students' minds are elsewhere. Here's Charlie Burns (ph), a fourth-year student at the University of Virginia, who I spoke with last week.
CHARLIE BURNS: In my last-ever undergrad class, my professor, she asked us, OK, if any of you guys were at, say, Columbia or Brown or any of these campuses, how many of you would be participating in an encampment? And this is, like, a huge class, like 150 to 200 kids. Maybe like one or two raised their hands.
CARRILLO: Over the weekend, the University of Virginia's small encampment did get broken up by police and several people were arrested. Since then, things have been quiet, and Burns is hoping they stay that way. This will be his first official graduation.
BURNS: So any kind of disruption to my college graduation, especially my grandparents are visiting from Kansas City, that would be a huge bummer.
MARTIN: Sequoia, so I guess we're going to see graduations that look different this year.
CARRILLO: Definitely some will look different. The University of Michigan actually just held its commencement over the weekend, and the school set up designated protest areas outside ceremonies in an attempt to minimize disruptions, but students did interrupt the main commencement with chants. The protesters were peacefully escorted out by police after a few minutes.
At Indiana University Bloomington, at graduation this weekend as well, our colleagues at Indiana Public Media reported that students organized a graduation walkout, among other activities. At Wesleyan University in Connecticut, the school says it will not disperse their encampment, so it may still be up during graduation at the end of May. So far, the same goes for Harvard, where students are camped on the yard but not in a place that would interfere with commencement later this month. Bottom line, Michel, this is a developing story, and things are changing every day. And plans can definitely still change.
MARTIN: That's Sequoia Carrillo. Sequoia, thank you.
CARRILLO: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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