ANN ARBOR, Mich. – A pro-Palestinian protest caused disruption during University of Michigan’s commencement ceremony Saturday.
About 50 graduates held signs and chanted, “Disclose, divest! We will not stop, we will not rest,” during the ceremony.
Their chant refers to their call on the University to divest from companies with ties to Israel.
The University had anticipated the demonstration and followed its plan to minimize disruption while allowing the right for peaceful protest.
The ceremony went on as scheduled with no major clashes between protesters and those in attendance.
Students, faculty, and those in attendance had mixed reaction.
“I can’t even hear what’s going on with the graduation with this going,” graduate Jacob Johnson said. “A lot of these people their senior year of high school was during Covid, so they already had that ruined and then now you have this going on too. It’s like give these people a break.”
Other graduates told Local 4 they supported the right to protest.
Benjamin Peters, who is the director of the Global Scholars Program, was pleased with how it was handled.
“The people who were protesting (their) voices could be heard,” Peters said. “They weren’t stopped, and I think that’s a great testament to the University of Michigan too.”
Here is a statement from the University of Michigan:
University of Michigan celebrated the achievements of 8,500 undergraduates and 6,622 graduate and PhD students before a crowd of 62,000 wellwishers at the commencement ceremony at Michigan Stadium Saturday. The mood was joyous and the ceremony unfolded successfully and was completed without interruption. Approximately 75 protesters staged a small demonstration at the beginning of the program, walking up the main aisle and chanting, before public safety personnel escorted them to the rear of the stadium, where they remained through the conclusion of the event. There were no arrests. Peaceful protests like this have taken place at U-M commencement ceremonies for decades. The university supports free speech and expression, and university leaders are pleased that today’s commencement was such a proud and triumphant moment, worthy of the achievements of our extraordinary graduates.
Colleen Mastony, university spokesperson