Many of Washington University’s newest graduates at their commencement ceremony Monday expressed solidarity with Palestinians in the war zone of Gaza as dozens of students, alumni and supporters gathered outside campus to protest the university’s continuing investments in Boeing, which supplies the Israeli military with weapons.
More than an hour before the 9 a.m. graduation ceremony began, protesters arrived near Lindell and Skinker boulevards to press their case that Wash U should disclose its investments and withdraw those in companies that provide weapons to Israel.
They’re also calling an end to the latest war in Gaza, where Israeli bombardments have killed thousands. Israel has waged the campaign since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas fighters.
“We are demanding that Wash U divest from Boeing and other military-industrial corporations that are supporting Israeli apartheid and the genocide in Palestine,” said Grace Iverson, who graduated from the university in 2020. “And we are continuing to keep up the pressure because Wash U has shown that they are clearly not interested in the community and in divesting. But we will not stop until they move to divest.”
As the university prepared to start its ceremony, people outside the campus held signs calling for a “permanent global ceasefire.” Another poster was painted to resemble a Palestinian flag, with “Queer Jews for Palestine” written on it.
Members of the “Ceasefire Choir” began singing "From Ferguson to Palestine, occupation is a crime!" outside the campus.
Clayton police later arrived to tell protesters to stop using megaphones and speakers, which officers said are against city ordinances — and threatened to arrest those who continue doing so. They briefly put a woman in handcuffs after she honked her van’s horn in support of the protests. Police then released her.
The demonstration is part of a series of protests on or near college campuses across the U.S., some of which have been forcefully shut down by police. Students staged minor disruptions at several commencement ceremonies across the nation over the weekend.
Wash U maintains that it has not taken a position on the war and that it remains committed to free expression and peaceful protest.
"Student Affairs staff have been working with our students and faculty to facilitate dialogue about this complex issue since Oct. 7, and we will continue to do so," Wash U spokeswoman Julie Hail Flory said in a statement Friday.
At the graduation ceremony, some students wore mortarboards with “Free Palestine'' messages. Others wore Palestinian flag buttons and keffiyeh scarves to show their solidarity with Palestinians.
Commencement speaker Alejandro Ramirez, who earned a degree in Latin American studies and a Fulbright Scholarship to conduct research in Brazil, noted that many of the graduates support the Palestinian people.
“Today I stand in solidarity with my peers, faculty and community members who have experienced hardship this last semester, who found their why and used it to express solidarity with the Palestinians around the world,” Ramirez said.
Actor Jennifer Coolidge, who delivered the commencement address and is receiving an honorary fine arts doctorate, mentioned the protest and said “it illustrates the need for voices of brilliant, unique and nuanced graduates,” a line that received applause and a big cheer from the crowd.
Some students say Wash U needs to pay better attention to student voices. Students are particularly outraged at the school’s response to two April pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus, where police made more than 100 arrests. They're calling for Wash U to drop charges and disciplinary cases against students, faculty and staff.
In a statement Friday, Wash U spokeswoman Flory said the tone of this protest was not peaceful and included “aggressive chanting.”
“They were abhorrently violent,” said Kevin McCarthy, who is graduating with a degree in English. “I was there the Saturday that they arrested my friends. And they acted with complete impunity. They did it all with a smile on their face, which is what was most jarring to me. I could see school administrators I saw and interacted with on campus in different contexts smiling as they told the police to charge the protesters and violently assault them.
“It shows that the university is completely tied into the military-industrial complex,” said McCarthy, 22. “They are fully focused on their bottom line of the endowment, and they do not care about their students one bit.”
To express their displeasure with the university, some graduates left the ceremony as Chancellor Andrew D. Martin gave closing remarks.
McCarthy said students are determined to continue delivering thoughtful and compassionate messages.
“We’re going to be out here until Gaza is free — until this genocide stops happening. I know that me and my fellow classmates have not lost their appetite to protest the apartheid state of Israel. And we have not lost our appetite for justice and decolonizing the world.”
See photos from Washington University's 2024 Spring Commencement by St. Louis Public Radio's Brian Munoz:
