Harvard Graduates Walk Out Of Ceremony Chanting "Free Palestine"

Hundreds of students in graduation robes walked out of the Harvard commencement chanting “Free, free Palestine.”

The "Free Palestine camp" in Harvard University I Photo: Dariusz Jemielniak ("Pundit") Wikimedia Commons

The incident comes weeks of protests on campus and a day after the school announced that 13 Harvard students who participated in a protest encampment would not be able to receive diplomas alongside their classmates, Steve LeBlanc and Lisa Rathke reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Some students chanted “Let them walk, let them walk” during the commencement, referring to allowing those 13 students to receive their diplomas.

Student speaker Shruthi Kumar said, “This semester our freedom of speech and our expressions of solidarity became punishable,” to cheers and applause. She recognized “the 13 undergraduates in the class of 2024 who will not graduate today,” generating prolonged cheers and clapping from graduates.

“I am deeply disappointed by the intolerance for freedom of speech and the right to civil disobedience on campus,” she added. More than 1,500 students had petitioned, and nearly 500 staff and faculty had spoken up, all over the sanctions.

“This is about civil rights and upholding democratic principles,” she said. “The students had spoken. The faculty had spoken. Harvard, do you hear us?”