Yale students stage graduation walkout to protest Gaza war
Scores of graduating students have staged a walkout from Yale University’s commencement exercises, protesting the Israeli war in Gaza, Yale’s financial ties to weapons makers and its response to pro-Palestinian demonstrations on the Ivy League campus.
The walkout began as Yale President Peter Salovey started to announce the traditional college-by-college presentation of candidates for degrees on the grounds of Yale’s Old Campus, filled with thousands of graduates in their caps and gowns.
At least 150 students seated near the front of the audience stood up together, turned their backs to the stage and paraded out of the ceremony through Phelps Gate, retracing their steps during the processional into the yard.
Many of the protesters carried small banners with such slogans as “Books not bombs” and “Divest from war.” Some wore red-colored latex gloves symbolizing bloodied hands.
BREAKING: Bloody Hands and Banners as a huge amount of Yale Students, Faculty, and Parents walk out of graduation. pic.twitter.com/1Kgz60LqxD
— Stu (@thestustustudio) May 20, 2024
Other signs read: “Drop the charges” and “Protect free speech” in reference to 45 people arrested in a police crackdown last month on demonstrations in and around the New Haven, Connecticut, campus.
The walkout draws a chorus of cheers from fellow students in the crowd, but is otherwise peaceful, without disruption. No mention of it is made from the stage.