After weeks of pro-Palestinian protests and campus unrest, another powerful symbol of higher education is facing turmoil. At graduation ceremonies, symbolic tassels were flipped and hats were jubilantly thrown into the air.
Now parents and guests from around the world are wondering whether to travel to attend small graduation ceremonies on campuses with armed guards, student protesters, potential graduation disruptions and arrests during protests against the Israel-Hamas war.
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Columbia University canceled its main ceremony, some universities moved graduation ceremonies off campus, and students at other universities refused to dismantle tent cities and protested outside the university president's home. Police are clearing a student tent encampment at the University of Chicago, while students at MIT have been arrested and are refusing to move from their tents, as have students at the Rhode Island School of Design.
Last week, Emory University was described as a “war zone” by one professor, 26 faculty and students were arrested and graduation ceremonies were moved off campus. Pro-Palestinian protesters have disrupted a graduation ceremony at the University of Michigan, university presidents elsewhere are being booed, and some students are walking out mid-ceremony.
“This is a terrible image of higher education,” said former Vassar President Catharine Bond Hill. “It is painful and it will push us in the wrong direction. “We could end up with bad federal policies and reduced support just when we need it most.”
Although graduation ceremonies are not always completely peaceful, they are a symbolic and uplifting ending that many students and parents have long believed were worth the wait, and for colleges, they are an important moment for building relationships with parents and recent graduates. The day you become a donor.
The confusion comes amid worsening public sentiment about the value of a college degree. Many colleges and universities are closing due to declining enrollment, and the public has been concerned about years of high tuition and student debt burden.
But not all graduation ceremonies have been canceled or disrupted by arrests, raids and protests by students and faculty supporting Palestinians in Gaza and calling for a withdrawal from Israel. Some colleges have held or are planning smaller, student-led graduation ceremonies or are moving graduation ceremonies away from campus.
At many other schools, students will express their views peacefully, as they always have, by wearing ribbons on their hats, what they wear under or over their gowns and raising flags, said Ted Mitchell, president of the American association. Board of Education.
RELATED: Student reporters across the country are covering classmates' protests and administrators' responses.
Still, Mitchell sees this moment as another warning sign for higher education: a “dark age” that requires clear protocols on free speech issues, starting with college orientation. He said college presidents and administrators must also constantly emphasize the value of a college education. “This is how we prepare people for the working world and how we help students graduate with little or no debt.”
The war and subsequent protests are creating an atmosphere on many campuses where no one can win. A president who calls the police to quell protests may not survive, and even those who seek to defend free speech are being criticized for failing to protect students and faculty from anti-Semitism. , Mitchell pointed out.
The Associated Press reported that more than 2,600 people have been arrested on more than 50 college campuses since April 18. Some universities are finding ways to come to terms with students and keep the peace, but the situation is becoming increasingly difficult. Even the University of Chicago, with its tradition of protecting free speech, sent university police in riot gear to block access to the school's quad.
The graduation ceremony scheduled for May 19 at Morehouse College, a black college with a 157-year history in Atlanta, is also causing fear as President Joe Biden will be the keynote speaker. Many students and faculty complained that the president should not receive an honorary degree because of his staunch support for Israel. Some are planning protests, others have said they will not sit on stage, and one activist group is calling for invitations to be revoked.
And uncertainty remains about what will happen on particularly volatile campuses, including USC in California, where the school first canceled its valedictorian's speech and later called police to campus after students set up a tent city (93 people was arrested). The graduation ceremony of our main stage has been completely canceled.
The school will now host major events for graduates instead of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
At UCLA, where police dismantled a pro-Palestinian camp, the university reopened the campus and put in new security guards as dozens of people were arrested. Amid continued unrest and calls for the prime minister to resign, the inauguration is still scheduled for mid-June.
Although many Columbia students reacted angrily to the event's cancellation, the decision was firm. (The Hechinger Report is an independent unit of Teachers College at Columbia University.)
Across the country, some students are likely to be hurt more than others by the current anxiety, including those who missed out on high school graduation and started their freshman year online during the pandemic.
As Hill points out, others are among the many first-generation students who have never experienced a graduation ceremony. Hill, now managing director of Ithaka S+R Research and Consulting Services, recalls the excitement and goodwill that blossomed at the numerous graduation ceremonies she presided over during her tenure at Vassar, adding that she, along with her proud family, were special to such students. I paid attention. Members are standing in line and taking pictures.
“It was very exciting, validating and hopeful for the future,” Hill said.
As protests and unrest continued, that iconic moment suddenly became much less likely.
This story about colleges canceling graduations was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. join us Higher Education Newsletter. hear us out Higher Education Podcast.