UNC celebrates class of 2024 as pro-Palestinian protesters turn up on campus, at graduation

UNC-Chapel Hill’s class of 2024 listened to an astronaut in Kenan Stadium on Saturday night, but first they heard, throughout the day, from the pro-Palestinian demonstrators who have brought national attention to their campus.

Protesters turned up at a series of campus landmarks Saturday. At the UNC Bell Tower near the stadium, they established a new encampment, one that quickly disappeared as protesters moved to just outside South Building, which houses the chancellor’s office.

They splattered red paint on South Building’s steps; maintenance workers later arrived to pressure-wash the steps.

At the commencement ceremony Saturday night, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, a two-time graduate of the school, delivered a keynote address that she said was scarier for her than the prospect of her first space flight that will soon take her to the International Space Station.

Then, as interim Chancellor Lee Roberts said, “You’re Tar Heels, forever” in the final moments of his charge to graduates, several people started moving up the center aisle carrying two Palestinian flags.

The protesters were quickly met with boos, people shouting “this is America” and “USA! USA!” Within moments, police had ushered them off the turf.

Immediately after, Roberts thanked the university staff.

Protesters and police at the Old Well

It has been a tumultuous few weeks for UNC and other schools across the country, with protests of Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in response to the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks.

Protesters have called for UNC to disclose any investments tied to Israel in its endowment and then divest from them. They’ve also called on UNC to end study-abroad programs that send students to Israel and “acknowledge the ongoing genocide in Palestine.”

Unlike schools such as the University of Southern California and Columbia University, UNC chose to press on with commencement despite the protests. The university did adopt a policy limiting bags that could be brought into commencement ceremonies to clear bags or small clutches. Additionally, the school required graduates to present their student identification cards to access the seating area.

Protesters on Saturday, including two in graduation robes, chanted behind graduates taking pictures near the Old Well.

Around 5:15 p.m., a group of about 100 protesters circled the Old Well. UNC police officers tried to keep a break in the circle so that a handful of remaining students who wanted pictures at the landmark could get them.

Then, shortly after 5:30, Orange County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived. When a handful of protesters climbed onto the Old Well, deputies and UNC police wrestled them off. Nobody was arrested.

After that, police and deputies gathered on the sidewalk near the well while protesters climbed onto it and gathered around it. Protesters placed a tent with the Palestinian flag draped on it on the well’s granite base for a moment.

‘Carolina doesn’t belong to you’

A previous encampment was broken up by UNC and other police from UNC system schools in the early morning hours of April 30. That led to charges for 36 people, with 30 of them cited with trespassing for refusing to leave Polk Place, UNC’s main quad, The News & Observer previously reported.

Later that afternoon, there was a clash between pro-Palestinian protesters and university police after protesters brought the American flag down and tried to replace it with a Palestinian flag. Ultimately, Roberts led UNC police to the chaotic scene and worked to re-hang the U.S. flag.

In his welcome address to Saturday’s graduates, Roberts said, “Being the university of the people means that we contain all that is great and all that is troubling about our society.”

He continued, “It means that Carolina doesn’t belong to you. It sure doesn’t belong to me. It doesn’t belong to any one person or group. The university is something we share.”

Boos that initially punctuated Roberts’ remarks turned to cheers as he concluded his thought.

Antisemitism legislation

Some Jewish groups said the timing of the encampments coincided with Passover, a major holiday for Jewish people that celebrates the liberation of Jews from slavery in Egypt.

This past week, the N.C. House of Representatives backed legislation adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism. That definition would be used to provide training on antisemitism and to report and track antisemitic incidents, according to the bill.

The IHRA defines antisemitism as a “certain perception” of Jews that can includes rhetorical and physical manifestations of hatred toward Jewish people or their property. Some have criticized the definition, saying it could chill constitutionally protected speech, particularly critiques of the government of Israel.

The bill passed with a near-unanimous 105-4 vote. It will now head to the Senate.