Freeman Hrabowski, the former President of the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), said, “Students sometimes look at me strange and say, ‘Don’t you think you’re kind of old?'” Hrabowski added, “I have studied one hour a day for the past seven years and I jump at every chance to speak French with others.”
US President Joe Biden has been invited by Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, to deliver the commencement address at its graduation ceremony on Saturday. However, students and alumni have been protesting against Biden’s support for Israel in the conflict in Gaza. Morehouse College’s Board of Trustees had invited Biden amid protests over the university’s support for Palestinians.
A group of students carrying Palestinian flags staged a silent protest at Camp Randall Stadium in the University of Wisconsin-Madison, US. The students’ cry was called “The Holocaust in Gaza”. This comes as the conflict between Hamas and Israel has killed more than 200 people and injured over 2,000 others on both sides.
Columbia University has said that the graduation ceremony of its students will not take place on May 15 due to the anti-Israel protests. The university said it’ll prioritize Class days and school-level ceremonies, “where students are honoured individually alongside their peers”. Earlier, Indiana University held an alternate graduation ceremony and University of Michigan held an alternate graduation ceremony.
Several professors at US’ Columbia University have written to the campus administration calling for an “immediate halt” on police action against students protesting in support of the Palestinian cause. “It’s unconscionable that the faculty is being asked to intervene and defend students’ academic rights when they aren’t being threatened,” they wrote. The professors further called on the university administration to act responsibly and in accordance with the law.
