Amid campus protests, Rutgers-New Brunswick commencement goes off without disturbance

It was rainy and cold, but still a smooth and celebratory Sunday morning for Rutgers-New Brunswick’s newly minted graduates at its 258th commencement — other than a group of around 40 students who left the ceremony early, after calling out “Free Palestine.”

Despite fears that the pro-Palestinian campus protests sweeping the nation would disrupt the ceremonies, the 4,200 students who showed up in cap and gown at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, usually home to the school's football games, got to “turn their tassels” without incident.

There was a mood of optimism, buoyed by comments from commencement speaker Freeman Hrabowski III, president emeritus of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, who sources said did not have a prepared speech and delivered most of his comments after asking three graduating students before the event what the student body wanted to hear from him.

"Their advice to me," Hrabowski said in his speech, "was say something to give us hope." Talking about his history in the Civil Rights Movement and asking students to cheer for all the mothers in the audience ― Sunday was Mother's Day ― he told the students: "You will be OK."

"Its only been 100 years since women were given the right to vote ... suddenly, things begin to change," he said, in comments often infused with humor.

University President Jonathan Holloway negotiated with student protesters who had set up an encampment on Voorhees Mall on the College Avenue campus, ending a four-day standoff. Holloway’s agreement with students includes setting up an Arab cultural center and supporting displaced Palestinian students from Gaza continuing their education at Rutgers, after the breakout of the Israel-Hamas war in October.

But he refused to sever ties with Tel-Aviv University or commit to divesting from Israeli business, both key demands of the campus protest movement.

The encampment ended peacefully, with students clearing up and walking away with their tents from Voorhees Mall on May 3, even as other universities have sent police in riot gear to dismantle tents. Thousands of students were arrested at Columbia, UCLA and the University of Pennsylvania after tense confrontations with police, in a move hailed by some politicians but decried by free-speech advocates. Some Republicans in Congress and state Sen. Jon Bramnick criticized Holloway for making concessions. The university president has been summoned to congressional hearings on antisemitism on May 23 in Washington, D.C.

The group that walked out of the ceremony waited to do so until after the main speakers delivered their addresses and were not disruptive. Some in the stadium heard them call out “Free Palestine” as they left, and they marched briefly in front of the stadium entrance with their parents and relatives.

A few wore academic hoods in the black, white and green colors of the Palestinian flag over their black gowns. Even the mortarboard caps decorated with pro-Palestine statements that have made appearances in other campus commencements were mostly missing here.

Before the students left the field in protest, around two dozen of them walked to the far side of the stage and turned their backs to it, wearing keffiyehs, the checkered scarves associated with the pro-Palestinian movement.

Two young women in hijabs among the group that left early glowed and smiled, saying, “We’re happy,” when asked how they felt after commencement. The two did not comment on whether they were satisfied with Holloway’s negotiations with Rutgers-New Brunswick students who protested Israel’s attacks in Gaza. A third student said the group was making a peaceful statement to express disappointment with Holloway for refusing to immediately divest from some Israeli companies.

"Holloway has made it very clear that he does not support divesting from defense companies that do business with Israel. It's a complete tragedy there [in Gaza], with over 15,000 children killed and many, many women. His approach to divestment is completely inadequate," the student said, declining to give his name or major.

Holloway has agreed to meet with five students representing the Gaza Solidarity encampment to discuss divestment, but he has said publicly that he does not support it.

"Enlightenment comes from involvement and that lasting progress and peace are the outcomes of diplomacy and discussion," not divestment, Holloway said in comments made at a recent board of governors meeting.

The Rutgers University Student Assembly announced online that 6,538 students at the New Brunswick campus — 80% of those who voted ― supported divesting its endowment fund "from companies that profit from, engage in, or contribute to the government of Israel's human rights violations."

Israel's military began bombarding Gaza and sending troops in response to the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, which left more than 1,200 dead and hostages taken in a surprise action widely condemned for its barbarism. In turn, the war in Gaza has left more than 34,000 dead, 70% of them women and children, reported U.N. Women, a United Nations organization, in what is now widely considered a disproportionate counterattack.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Rutgers-New Brunswick commencement goes smoothly, with small protest