A weekend of graduations begins with a disruption at Michigan

Pro-Palestinian protesters briefly disrupted a graduation ceremony at the University of Michigan on Saturday as universities holding commencements braced for more tensions generated over the war in the Gaza Strip.

Dozens of pro-Palestinian supporters in kaffiyeh and graduation caps unfurled and held up Palestinian flags in the aisles of the ceremony at Michigan Stadium as a speaker invoked the school’s “Go Blue” slogan. Protesters marched down the center aisle toward the stage, chanting, “Regents, regents, you can’t hide! You are funding genocide!”

One person in the audience could be heard yelling back, “You’re ruining our graduation!” Some patrons sitting in private boxes hung Israeli flags from their seats as university police blocked the protesters from moving closer to the stage and pushed them toward a section in the back of the venue.

Overhead, a plane flying the message “Divest from Israel now! Free Palestine!” circled the stadium. Another plane with a banner offered a different message: “We stand with Israel. Jewish lives matter.”

The ceremony did not stop. Neither did the chanting, although how audible or distracting it was might have depended on where people sat in the stadium. But the protesting was indicative of how the university in Ann Arbor and several other schools are wrestling with how to handle student protests during graduation ceremonies this month.

Indiana University Bloomington, Northeastern University and Ohio State University are also set to hold graduation ceremonies this weekend, with more scheduled across the country in the coming weeks.

At Ohio State, 38 people have been arrested, according to a tally by the New York Times; at Indiana University, 57; and at Northeastern University, 98.

The turmoil has added another complicated layer to graduation for students, many of whom had their high school senior year celebrations abruptly cut short by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

Universities have tried to ensure against major disruptions. Some schools plan to set up designated areas for protests, in a bid to allow the ceremonies to go forward without quashing free speech.

And some schools – like Northeastern’s ceremony at Fenway Park – are adhering to strict rules limiting what can be brought inside the large ceremony venues. (Many graduation venues already had limitations in place long before the protests.)

The University of Michigan trained volunteers working at the school’s 54 ceremonies on “how to manage disruptions.” (University officials were quick to note that peaceful protests are not uncommon at graduation or university events.)

“This might include asking someone to relocate a sign or to otherwise stop ongoing disruptive behavior,” said Colleen Mastony, a spokesperson for the University of Michigan. She added, “Our goal is to support a successful and celebratory event.”

On Friday evening, a person not affiliated with the university was arrested after around 200 people gathered outside the University of Michigan Museum of Art to protest a dinner for recipients of honorary degrees, a spokesperson for the university police department said. On Saturday, no arrests were made among the roughly 75 protesters who demonstrated during the ceremony.

At least two schools have altered their graduation ceremonies in light of the ongoing protests. The University of Vermont announced Friday that Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, would no longer deliver a commencement address scheduled for later this month.

And the University of Southern California canceled its valedictorian’s commencement speech and appearances by celebrity speakers, then canceled its “main stage” commencement ceremony altogether, citing the possibility of disruptions. On Friday, the university announced a “Trojan Family Graduate Celebration” in the famed Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for graduates to attend instead.

Over the last academic year, schools across the country have met the protests of thousands of students in different ways: Some administrations have negotiated with demonstrators over their demands, while others have called in police.

While many protests have stopped short of physical confrontations, clashes have included the occupation of a university hall at Columbia University in New York, a violent attack by pro-Israel counterprotesters at UCLA, and vulgar and racist taunts hurled by white students at protesters at the University of Mississippi. At least one student from the University of Mississippi now faces an internal school investigation as a result.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.