Student Walkout During Graduation at University of Chicago

Dozens of graduating seniors at the University of Chicago walked out of the commencement ceremony on June 1 to protest the genocide in Gaza. They also protested the fact that the university was withholding four diplomas of students who participated in the ceasefire encampment in early May. There were chants, boos, the waving of Palestinian flags, and many visible keffiyehs, according to The Guardian. There have been large “walkouts” at graduation ceremonies at Harvard, MIT, City University of New York, and other schools. At the University of Chicago thousands of students and faculty members have signed a petition to allow the four students to receive their diplomas. Over a dozen members of the Chicago City Council have also called on the university to allow the four students to graduate with full honors.