Tens of students left the University of Chicago’s graduation ceremony Saturday as the school denied diplomas to four graduates over their participation in a pro-Palestinian encampment, NBC News reported.
UChicago United for Palestine said four graduating seniors were informed by email in recent days that their diplomas would be withdrawn pending a disciplinary process related to complaints against the camp.
“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?” Youssef Haweh, one of the students, said in a statement.
Moreover, students have cancelled final exams at Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and other universities as protest camps have sprung up in the US and Europe in recent weeks.
They have demanded their universities stop doing business with Israel or companies they say support its war in Gaza. Organisers of the demonstrations are seeking to strengthen calls to end Israel’s war on Hamas, which they call genocide against Palestinians.
University of Chicago administrators initially took a permission-based approach, but later said the protest had crossed the line and raised growing security concerns. One group temporarily took over a building on the school’s campus.
According to university officials, the demonstrations had prompted formal complaints, including for “disruptive conduct,” and would require further review. Still students remained able to participate in graduation and receive diplomas provided they excused themselves following an investigation into alleged violations of campus policy.
In addition, thousands of students and faculty have signed a petition urging the university to issue diplomas. Over a dozen Chicago City Council members have written a letter asking them to do the same.
Protests are reprisals to the Israel-Hamas war, which began on 7 October. Hamas conducted a devastating cross-border attack on Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages. Israel launched a retaliatory offensive that killed over 36,500 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
