Protesters deliver messages in a number of ways
Students’ protests against Israeli companies in Gaza erupted after the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and Johns Hopkins University took down their encampment
Graduation ceremonies at a handful of universities across the country faced light disruptions over the weekend, as pro-Palestinian demonstrators staged walkouts, chants, and waved Palestinian flags during commencement speeches.
Dozens of University of California, Berkeley graduates stood up from their seats in the Memorial Stadium on Saturday morning to call for universities to sell their investments in Israeli companies because of the war in Gaza. There is a small group of students with a Palestinian flag at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. At the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, pro-Palestinian demonstrators splashed red paint on the steps of a building hours before the commencement ceremony.
Other schools, including Northwestern and Brown, have reached agreements with students to take at least some of their demands into consideration. The latest agreement came Sunday, when student protestors at Johns Hopkins University agreed to take down their encampment – which began on April 29 – after the university promised to review students’ demand for the university to divest from companies with ties to Israel.
“They feel passionately about the brutality of the violence in Gaza,” Christ told the crowd, adding “I, too, am deeply troubled by the terrible tragedy.”
Israel launched its military campaign inside Gaza eight months after a surprise attack by Hamas. More than 1,200 people were killed in the attack, with 200 others taken hostage, according to Israeli officials.
Students vs. Students: The Campuses of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond aren’t as tense as they might seem
At Berkeley, a group of some 500 people ignored warnings and gathered in an empty section of the stadium to chant for the university to Divest from Israel.
While students at UC Berkeley have been amongst the most vocal in their calls for the university to cut ties with Israel, recent protests have also been met with accusations of antisemitism from members of the campus’s Jewish community.
Known for being the birthplace of the free speech movement of the 1960s, the university has been dealing with two federal investigations relating to charges of antisemitism since the Oct. 7 attack — one from the Department of Education, the other by Republicans in Congress.
Dozens of students at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond staged a silent walkout during Saturday’s graduation ceremony to protest the commencement address from Republican Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin.
The university’s chapter of the NAACP had previously criticized the school’s decision to invite Youngkin over his efforts to unravel a series of policies which have promoted diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
The letter mentioned the tip line the governor put in place for parents to report faculty who were teaching “divisive” concepts in schools as one of the things he had done.
The university has faced criticism by those who are against Biden’s handling of the conflict in Gaza and his more recent comments about student protestors — in which he said some of them used “violent” methods.
After the White House received invitations to speak at many colleges, Mr. Biden chose to speak at Morehouse. It will be the third time in four years he has addressed graduates of a historically Black institution; he has also spoken at commencement for one military academy each year.
Morehouse has strong traditions. It was where Dr. King had advanced his understanding of moral leadership which the current Morehouse students say they take very seriously.
Morehouse and other historically black colleges and universities are still angry over the war, but the campuses are not as tense as they could be.
Some students have held contentious meetings with university leaders and urged them to rescind Mr. Biden’s invitation, and a small group of faculty members has vowed not to attend commencement. Some alumni wrote a letter expressing worries that student protesters could be punished, noting Morehouse’s history of “celebrating student activists long after they have graduated.”
Then, on Friday, the White House dispatched the leader of its public engagement office and one of its most senior Black officials, Stephen K. Benjamin, to the Morehouse campus for meetings to take the temperature of students, faculty members and administrators.
Introducing Cedric Richmond to Howard University, a Black University Commencement Venue at which students can attend university graduations and learn more about their lives
Differences with other institutions of higher learning are what lead to the reasons. Domestic concerns and foreign policy are more important to the mind of most students than political views. Many started lower on the economic ladder and are more intently focused on their education and their job prospects after graduation.
The college might appear safer to visit by the president than other places. Morehouse is a custom-bound place where undergraduates traditionally do not step on the grass in the heart of campus until they receive their degrees. Alumni view commencement as a distinguished event not only for students but also for scores of family and community members — making it a less likely venue for a major disruption.
Among those lobbying Mr. Biden to come to Morehouse was Cedric Richmond, a member of the college’s class of 1995, who ran Mr. Biden’s public engagement office and is now a senior adviser at the Democratic National Committee.
He asked if The Maroon Tiger would get tear-gassed. Do we get arrested? That look wouldn’t be ideal for a Morehouse College graduation.
Howard University, where the Vice President graduated, is an historically Black institution that she is taking a virtual tour of. She recorded a video that will be played for graduates at 44 H.B.C.U.s; she is often introduced as a surprise guest and greeted with cheers.
Mr. Perrin said that she was trying to get an idea of what students’ issues were with his coming. “And what would kind of shift that narrative.”
Students Aren’t Just As Nice As Donald Trump, But Why Do They Want to Vote? Implications for the Future of Black Colleges
Yet even as some students feel compelled to protest, outside factors can shape their decisions. Roughly 75 percent of students at H.B.C.U.s, including 50 percent of Morehouse students, are eligible for the Pell Grant, a federal aid program for low-income students. More than 80 percent of Morehouse students receive some form of financial aid. The first in their family to graduate from college will be a third of the Class of 2024.
Because of family pressure, some students may decide against protesting at Black colleges.
“Your student body at Columbia is very different than the student body at, say, Dillard,” said Walter Kimbrough, who spent a decade as president of Dillard University, a historically Black institution in New Orleans. It doesn’t mean people aren’t worried. They know they have different kinds of stakes.
The stakes are also high for Mr. Biden, whose standing with Black voters has softened ahead of November’s presidential election. Part of the reason why young people are less enthusiastic about voting is the choice between Mr. Biden and Donald J. Trump.
“I believe it is selecting the lesser of two evils,” said Freddrell Green II of Morehouse. “Anything better than Donald Trump, a madman, a quote unquote tyrant, is better for me.”
“Joe Biden is probably a very nice person,” said Samuel Livingston, an associate professor of Africana studies at Morehouse. “But niceness is not the level of leadership that we need. We need ethical leadership. Continuing to support aiding, abetting and stripping of Palestinian land from the West Bank and Gaza Strip is not ethical.
Source: At Commencements, Protesters Deliver Messages in Many Ways
Auzzy Byrdsell and the Student-Democracy Correspondence: What Does President Biden Tell Us About Black Lives?
Auzzy Byrdsell, a senior majoring in journalism at the University of Georgia, supports his classmates’ protests but fears that the police will respond to a crowd of Black young men.
He hoped Mr. Biden would highlight his record and his agenda but that there was nothing the president could say to appease his critics on campus.
“While what he says is important,” Mr. Warnock said, trying to put himself in the shoes of student protesters, “I think much more important is what he does in the future.”
