April 25, 2024 - US university protests

The University of Southern California canceled its main commencement ceremony for 2024 graduating students in May, citing "new safety measures in place."

"We understand that this is disappointing," the university said in an announcement on its website.

The announcement came days after the university canceled the commencement speech of its Muslim valedictorian, Asna Tabassum, due to what it called security concerns. USC then canceled appearances by prominent speakers and honorees at the May 10 graduation ceremony.

USC's commencement weekend is scheduled for May 8-11. Its main stage ceremony traditionally brought all 65,000 students and their families together. The university said it would host "new activities and celebrations" to ensure the weekend would still be "meaningful, memorable and uniquely USC."

Many students in the class of 2024 graduated high school in 2020, meaning they may also have missed out on graduation ceremonies due to Covid-19.

George Washington University president Ellen M. Granberg on Thursday said DC Metropolitan Police were asked to assist in relocating an “unauthorized protest encampment” on campus.

“The encampment, unlike some demonstrations in the past, is an unauthorized use of university space at this location and violated several university policies,” Granberg said in a statement. “The decision to request MPD assistance came after multiple instructions made by GWPD to relocate to an alternative demonstration site on campus went unheeded by encampment participants."

She said the school will allow George Washington University students “an appropriate place for their protest within the defined limits of free expression” at the school but will not allow students from “other local colleges or unaffiliated individuals to trespass on our campus.”

“We can and will enforce the time, place, and manner restrictions that continue to govern activities on our campus,” she said. 

Granberg also said they will insist that protesters “meet their responsibility to university policies that prohibit the disruption of the normal academic activities of our community – the vast majority of whom are not protesting.”

“Occupying campus grounds, establishing outdoor encampments, and blocking access to buildings create safety concerns and can disrupt learning and study, especially during this critical final exam period,” she said. “Such activities are inconsistent with the university’s mission, values, and commitment to providing a safe environment for all students and employees.”

A State Department spokesperson said Thursday that the Biden administration supports the right to protest peacefully.

When asked if the protesters' voices were reaching Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Patel said, “Absolutely.”

Patel added that “harmful rhetoric, rhetoric whether it be rooted in antisemitism, Islamophobia, is incredibly problematic and needs to be condemned and called out.”

Gerald A. Griggs, head of the Georgia NAACP, on Thursday called for a meeting with Emory president Gregory L. Fenves, after pepper spray and pepper balls were used by police on protesters on campus.

“As the president of the @GeorgiaNAACP, given the events that occurred this morning on the campus of @EmoryUniversity & @emorycollege, I am requesting a meeting with the President of the University to discuss the events on the campus as soon as possible,” wrote Griggs, who is also an alumnus of the university, on social media.

An encampment has been formed at Northeastern University in Boston, where dozens of protesters can be seen forming a human chain around several tents. 

Uniformed members of the Northeastern University Police Department and the Boston Police Department are present at what appears to be a peaceful protest.

Students can be heard chanting several protest chants, including "Who do you protect, who do you serve?" "Viva, viva Palestine," and "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Some law enforcement on site are wearing helmets and carrying zip ties.

Several apparent students wearing yarmulkes are in a crowd watching the protesters. 

A "demonstration with encampments" has formed at the University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA) in Royce Quad, the university said in a campus activity update Thursday. 

Access to Royce Hall and Powell Library are restricted but campus life will continue as usual and "classes will be held as planned," according to the update. 

"We’re actively monitoring this situation to support a safe and peaceful campus environment that respects our community’s right to free expression while minimizing disruption to our teaching and learning mission," the update said. 

The encampment comes after police arrested nearly 100 protesters at the nearby University of Southern California after a dispersal order.

Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA posted on Instagram inviting others to join and said, "WE ARE STAYING UNTIL OUR DEMANDS ARE MET! BE HERE!" 

"We camp in solidarity with Palestine. We refuse to be complicit in this genocidal campaign," the post said.

Aerial photos from CNN affiliate KCAL show people sitting scattered throughout Royce Quad with tents Thursday. The demonstrators appear peaceful. 

The New York Police Department has pulled out from City College of New York and now no action is imminent, according to a law enforcement official. 

City College of New York officials said they would give the NYPD their written request but so far have not, the official said. In response, NYPD officials have pulled out and no clearing of the park is now expected soon, the official said.

Earlier today, a law enforcement official said the NYPD had been in touch with officials from City College of New York and planned to clear the campus of an encampment set up by pro-Palestine protesters.

The NYPD was expected to move in and clear out the encampment sometime before 5 pm ET Thursday, the official said.

Similar encampments are sweeping universities across the nation, where hundreds of protesters have been arrested.

College administrators have been under intense scrutiny in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war. University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill and Harvard University president Claudine Gay both stepped down in the wake of pressure over their response to antisemitism on campus.

Now, just over nine months into her tenure, Columbia University president Minouche Shafik — an Egyptian-born economist and former high-ranking official at the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Bank of England, and former president of the London School of Economics — is under pressure for her handling of Columbia campus protests.

At Columbia, some students, faculty and left-leaning lawmakers are enraged that Shafik authorized the New York Police Department to shut down pro-Palestinian student protests. They say the crackdown on student demonstrations, which resulted in more than 100 arrests, violated academic freedom. At the same time, students, religious groups and right-leaning lawmakers say the administration has failed to stop antisemitism inside Columbia’s campus and at protests outside its gates.

Read more here.

Organizers of the demonstrations at Emory University on Thursday said law enforcement are responsible for protesters who were “indiscriminately attacked” during an encampment on campus.

“The Georgia State Patrol, Atlanta Police Department, and Emory Police Department all bear responsibility for this overt act of terrorism,” organizers said in a statement.

The organizers said the protesters will “continue the call for Emory University to completely divest from all programs enabling Israeli apartheid.” They also called for “an end to the police's brutality and the immediate release of all activists arrested.”

“Despite the violence authorized by the Emory President Greg Fenves and Dean of Campus Life Enku Gelaye, protestors continue their action on campus and call for the broader Atlanta community to join them,” the organizers said.