The sadness continues to pile on for high school students from the class of 2020 who are now
college students in the class of 2024. First it was the pandemic that caused hundreds of high
schools nationwide to cancel in-person graduations four years ago. Now a new threat has
emerged–student pro-Palestian protests that could affect commencement ceremonies for
colleges and universities this year.
Hundreds of students have been arrested nationwide over demonstrations and encampments
on university campuses. From coast to coast, school officials have called on law enforcement to
disperse the uprisings. One school particularly affected is Columbia University in New York.
Protestors have set up camp at the center of that school’s graduation ceremony location. USC
has already canceled its main graduation ceremony, and other schools may do the same. Some
responses have been violent, as when Georgia officers fired rubber bullets and tear gas into a
group of protesters at Emory University. Police at The Ohio State University arrested 36
students at a pro-Palestine rally. There were 57 arrests at the University of Texas at Austin,
though all of the students were later released. So far, no deaths have been reported as the
result of any protest.
UC Berkeley is no stranger to protests–going back to the days of the Vietnam War in the late
‘60s. It brings back memories of similar campus protests in the past. But there are some
differences. Students today are using largely calm and non-violent tactics like “sit-ins,”
according to historian Angus Johnston of the City University of New York.
So what do the students want? Ultimately, they are looking for divestment of their school’s
financial relationships with Israeli military and the nation’s companies, similar to what happened
in the 1980s when more than 150 colleges divested from firms that profited or supported
apartheid in South Africa. It led to the passage in Congress of a divestment policy in 1986
against the South African government–including economic sanctions. The student protests
weren’t the only reason for the action–but the attention they brought to the issue was certainly a
large contributing factor.
A Pew Research Center poll shows there’s a major divide between young and old generations
about the Israeli Gaza war. Pew says one-third of Americans under age 30 sympathize more
with the Palestinians, while 14 percent sympathize with the Israelis. By comparison, 47 percent
of adults 65 and older have more sympathy with the Israelis, compared to just 9 percent with the
Palestinians.
Some schools are actually working with the protestors to calm down the heat. Axios reports that
not all schools are having students arrested, and are even meeting with leaders of the uprising
to discuss the issues.
This all leads to what happens to this year’s graduation ceremonies? That question remains up
in the air right now–leaving students and their families wondering if, once again, they’ll miss out
on a cap and gown ceremony.