Emory’s Graduation Ceremony at the Baker Athletics Complex after the May 25 Protest against the Israel-Hamas War
An FAQ on Emory’s commencement webpage also outlines the school’s expression-related protocols for commencement, which it says are “similar to events that are held on campus.”
Gas South District venues have various requirements for security screening, event safety, and guest conduct, according to its website, including prohibiting backpacks and “signs on sticks or oversized signs (no larger than 8 1/2″ x 11″).”
Demonstrations intensified as university, city and state law enforcement officers clashed with and forcibly arrested some two dozen protesters on April 25, including students and faculty members.
There was a vote of no-confidence against Fenves by the arts and science faculty at the school.
More than a week of student protests against the Israel-Hamas war and the construction of a controversial public safety training center resulted in the announcement.
Columbia is not the only major university to cancel a part of its graduation ceremony. The University of Southern California announced in late April that it would cancel its main graduation ceremony, several days and considerable backlash after it scrapped its valedictorian speech over security concerns.
Officials at the New York City institution said in their Monday announcement that based on feedback from students, they will prioritize Class Days and school-level ceremonies, “where students are honored individually alongside their peers,” rather than the universitywide ceremony that had been scheduled for May 15.
“Our students emphasized that these smaller-scale, school-based celebrations are most meaningful to them and their families,” the announcement from Columbia reads. They are very excited to cross the stage to applause and hear from their school’s guest speakers. As a result, we will focus our resources on those school ceremonies and on keeping them safe, respectful, and running smoothly.”
The ceremonies were originally scheduled on the South Lawn, but they have been relocated because of the protest which took place there two weeks ago.
Those ceremonies will move to the Baker Athletics Complex, Columbia’s main venue for outdoor sports. Tickets are required at the events from May 10-16. Columbia College will hold its ceremony on the morning of May 14, followed by the affiliated Barnard College the next day.
The New York Police Department would be on campus through May 17 in order to maintain order.
Dozens of students had been arrested in pro-Palestinian actions earlier this year, including an eight-day hunger strike, and no protesters were arrested as part of that demonstration.
After negotiations were unable to reach a resolution on April 29, Columbia suspended the students who did not comply with its ultimatum to leave the camp by 2 p.m.
Shafik has faced widespread criticism and calls to resign from both sides of the aisle over her handling of the protest, though maintains the backing of Columbia’s board of trustees.
Other schools are forging ahead with graduation as planned, but expecting — and for some, already experiencing — protests during the day. Hundreds of people waved flags and banners and briefly disrupted the University of Michigan’s graduation, while students and faculty at Indiana University held an alternate ceremony.
The change applies to the universitywide ceremony on May 13, as well as the diploma ceremonies for each of its nine schools. Graduation events will begin on May 10, according to a revised calendar.
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They will be held at the Gas South District in Duluth, an area that includes an arena and a convention center. It is 30 miles from Oxford to the northeast, and about 20 miles from Atlanta to the northwest.
“Please know that this decision was not taken lightly,” he added. “It was made in close consultation with the Emory Police Department, security advisors, and other agencies — each of which advised against holding Commencement events on our campuses.”
He also thanked the Class of 2024, noting they had to start college online after the pandemic interrupted their high school graduations.
A wave of pro-Palestine demonstrations has been going on at U.S. colleges for about a week. Some campuses are seeing increased tension while others have not.
The protesters reached an agreement with the administration on Thursday at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus.
Protesters’ demands vary by school, though they generally call for an end to the Israel-Hamas war, disclosures of institutional investments and divestment from companies with ties to Israel or that otherwise profit from its military operation in Gaza.
The first schools to announce agreements were Northwestern and Brown, followed by Rutgers and the University of Minnesota.
Some administrations, like Columbia University and UCLA, went ahead and called the cops to take down student campsites. Others cleared their lawns without the help of the police.
The university made a note to the community that said the agreement was forged because of the hard work of students and faculty.
The schools didn’t commit to removing themselves from Israel. But they say they will provide more transparency around their endowments and limit disciplinary action against students, among other commitments. There are scholarships for Palestinian students and space for Muslim students on the campus.
Not all activists are satisfied with the terms of their deals, but many are celebrating the agreements as incremental steps in a long-running fight for divestment that, at many schools, far predates Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and Israel’s ensuing response.
“When it comes to the actual momentum that this agreement gives us, I cannot emphasize enough how huge it is,” said Lucas, a Northwestern student who asked to only use his first name because of concerns about online harassment.
When he said earlier in the year that the university’s homeless camp could continue as long as it remained peaceful, President Michael Roth warned of legal ramifications for vandals and reports of harassment.
As the protest grew larger, a group of students and faculty who represent the majority of the demonstrators at Deering Meadow spoke with the university leadership.
The agreement permits peaceful demonstrations on Deering Meadow, but only for community members and a single aid tent. The university also pledged to reestablish its Advisory Committee on Investment Responsibility this fall, with representation from students, faculty and staff.
It will also fund the cost of attendance for five Palestinian undergraduates (and fundraise for more), provide “immediate temporary space for MENA/Muslim students” and engage students in a process to ensure additional support for Jewish and Muslim community members.
Some Jewish groups feel that the terms of the agreement make Jewish students feel unsafe. Northwestern is now facing two lawsuits, one from students and one from an outside anti-affirmative affirmative action group.
Schill’s decision to not consult the committee during negotiations was cited by seven of them as the reason for stepping down.
A coalition of outside groups issued a statement saying Schill should resign because of the “reprehensible and dangerous agreement”. Separately, the American Jewish Committee accused Northwestern of “succumbing to the demands of a mob which has intimidated Jewish students, espoused antisemitic, hate-filled speech, and whose members have celebrated Hamas terrorists.”
Schill, who is Jewish, defended the agreement in an April 30 video in which he acknowledged and condemned incidents of antisemitism at the encampment, including a poster showing him with devil horns, an antisemitic trope. He told Here & Now that the ban on tents and megaphones is meant to make Jewish students feel more safe.
“I do take issue with calling our students a mob,” he added. They’re young, nave, learning, and so the best way to engage and achieve our educational mission is to engage in dialogue with them.
Several groups that are involved in the protest have issued statements of support for the agreement.
One of the promises of the agreement is that some have already followed up on, and that’s why they’re expecting a response within 30 days.
Six days after student protesters began camping on the Providence, Rhode Island campus, Brown University President Christina Paxson announced an agreement with the administration.
The university’s conduct proceedings should be followed by the students involved in the tents, but there will be no suspension or expulsion for their participation.
The students with the Brown Divest Coalition have two main demands for the university. She was one of the six students involved in negotiations with two administrators.
The first was to present a long-tabled 2020 advisory committee report — recommending divestment from Israeli occupation — to the university corporation for a vote. The students were arrested at the December sit-in.
Per the agreement, students cleared out of their encampment by 5 p.m. that day. Five students will be invited to speak to a group of five Brown University members about the 2020 report, in exchange for the Corporation of Brown University inviting them to attend its May meeting.
It will not add divestment to its May agenda. Paxson will request an advisory committee provide her with advice on the subject by Sept. 30 and she will put that on the agenda for the October meeting.
Paxson believes that there will be clarity on the issue of divestment if the voters in October decide to either vote for or against it.
“Some people are just relieved that there’s finally movement in this campaign,” she said. “Some people never liked the protests in the first place and are simply relieved the encampment is gone. Some people wanted to get rid of their investments, but expressed disappointment.
She said that the next step is to mobilize in the months leading up to the corporation. She doesn’t know yet what that will look like — and, as a graduating senior, won’t be on campus in the fall to help.
Protesters had a 4 p.m. deadline to remove their camp or else be arrested. A rally that morning caused the school to delay more than two dozen final exams.
Within an hour of the deadline, the administration offered a revised proposal and the student organizers accepted it. They began clearing their tents just in time.
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“These decisions aren’t within our scope of administrative function,” she wrote. “However, following our established university policies, the divestment request is under review.”
Rutgers agreed to accept 10 displaced Palestinians on scholarships, explore scholarly exchange with the university in Ramallah, create a department of Middle East Studies, and establish an Arab Cultural Center on campus.
The New Jersey regional director of the American Jewish Committee said the agreement was short-sighted and a “capitulation.”
But the Endowment Justice Collective said in an Instagram statement that it was proud of what it had achieved — without student arrests or suspensions — and determined to keep working towards its divestment goals.
“Our decision to end our encampment without achieving these demands reflects our strategic logic regarding building power on campus by laying structural groundwork to not only grow our ranks but shift the political climate across Rutgers,” they wrote.
University officials announced that day that some campus buildings would remain closed amidst protests. A dozen buildings remained closed the following day, as university officials offered to meet with leaders of student groups involved in the protests, MPR News reported.
The last day before final exams started was the day that organizers met with administrators. Before the night ended, they had reached an agreement.
The agreement was announced by Interim President Jeff Ettinger the day after, which said that campus buildings would reopen at noon, students would not disrupt finals and graduations, and representatives would have an opportunity to speak to the Board of regents at its May 10 meeting.
Among them: The administration said it would consider setting up program affiliations with Palestinian universities and make a good faith effort to provide information about the university’s holding in public companies by May 7, to be supplemented by May 17.
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The meeting had to be canceled because the participants were engaged inConstructive conversation for 90 minutes and two more meetings were held to talk about the agreements.
“We regret that these meetings did not happen sooner, and have committed to regular meetings moving forward to continue to discuss this coalition’s concerns,” he added.
He said while he is heartened by the initial progress, there is more work to be done. The UMN Divest Coalition made a similar vow on social media after the agreement was announced.