Colleges seek to balance safety and students' right to protest Gaza war
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — The University of Michigan is informing students of the rules for upcoming graduation ceremonies: Banners and flags are not allowed. Protests are OK but in designated areas away from the cap-and-gown festivities.
The University of Southern California canceled a planned speech by the school’s Muslim valedictorian. At Columbia University, where 100 students were arrested last week following protests, officials temporarily canceled in-person classes Monday as they work to find a resolution to the crisis.
This is commencement season 2024, punctuated by the tension and volatility that has roiled college campuses since Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. Militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took roughly 250 hostages. In response, Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the local health ministry.