Chicago students walk out of graduation after diplomas withheld for anti-Israel camp
Shouts, boos, calls to ‘Stop Genocide’ briefly disrupt rainy two-hour outdoor ceremony; dozens of students walk out between speeches; demonstration follows official ceremony
CHICAGO (AP) — Dozens of anti-Israel student protesters walked out of the University of Chicago’s commencement Saturday as the school withheld the diplomas of four seniors over their involvement with a pro-Palestinian encampment.
The disruption to the rainy two-hour outdoor ceremony was brief, with shouts, boos and calls to “Stop Genocide.” A crowd of students walked out between speeches, and a demonstration followed the official ceremony.
Some chanted as they held Palestinian flags, while others donned, keffiyeh scarves, a Palestinian symbol often used in pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel protests, over their robes.
Four graduating seniors, including Youssef Haweh, were informed by email in recent days that their degrees would be withheld pending a disciplinary process related to complaints about the encampment, according to student group UChicago United for Palestine.
“My diploma doesn’t matter when there are people in Palestine and in Gaza that will never walk a stage again, who will never receive a diploma. What about them? Who’s going to fight for them?” Haweh said in a Saturday statement.
University officials acknowledged the walkout, saying the school is “committed to upholding the rights of students to express a wide range of views,” according to a statement.
Students have walked out of commencements at Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and others as protest camps have sprung up across the US and in Europe in recent weeks. Students have demanded their universities stop doing business with Israel or companies they say support its war in Gaza.
A small demonstration after the commencement, where protesters tried to access a closed street, resulted in the arrest of one person not affiliated with the school, university officials said in a statement.
The University of Chicago encampment was cleared on May 7. Administrators had initially adopted a permissive approach, but later said the protest had crossed a line and caused growing concerns about safety. One group temporarily took over a building on the school’s campus.
University officials have said the demonstrations prompted formal complaints including for “disruptive conduct,” and would require further review. The students were still able to participate in graduation, and can receive their degrees if they are later cleared after the university inquiry into alleged violations of campus policy. The university didn’t have comment Saturday about the diplomas.
Thousands of students and faculty members have signed a petition calling for the university to grant the degrees, while more than a dozen Chicago City Council members have penned a letter asking for the same.
The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 252 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 35,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though only some 24,000 fatalities have been identified at hospitals. The toll, which cannot be verified, includes some 15,000 terror operatives Israel says it has killed in battle. Israel also says it killed some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.
A total of 294 Israeli soldiers have been killed during the ground offensive against Hamas and amid operations along the Gaza border. A civilian Defense Ministry contractor has also been killed in the Strip.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
