BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — As the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, so do protests on college campuses across the country – even during graduation ceremonies. While Saturday was a day meant for celebrating the accomplishments of IU Bloomington students, it was instead about continuing to take a stand for a handful of them who walked out of their own commencement.
As graduates filed into Memorial Stadium, a plane circled overhead. Trailing behind was a Palestinian flag and the words “let Gaza live.”
“Truthfully, I don’t have any concerns about the protest itself, more or less the response that I’ve seen to the protests here at IU," graduate Andy Myers said before the ceremony began.
The moment the university’s president, Pamela Whitten, took to the podium – boos could be heard from the crowd. For over a week, pro-Palestinian protesters have been calling for the university to divest its investments in Israel and the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, Indiana.
“It's what students do, they get politically active," Joe Burge, a parent of a graduate, said before the ceremony. "This is where they start to learn about the world and get involved in the world.”
Since the encampments started, they've led to more than 50 arrests, and now a lawsuit against IU filed by the ACLU of Indiana on behalf of a few protesters.
Some chose to walk out of their commencement ceremony, marching through campus with caps, gowns and a couple bullhorns.
“Especially in this age, we have the shortest attention span," graduate Futhallah Hamed said while marching. "We got to keep reminding people over, and over and over – if this injustice keeps going and persisting, we have to keep resisting.”
A few attendees yelled back from inside the gate. But that didn’t stop protesters, who otherwise weren't immediately met with any counter-protesters.
“There’s no more universities in Gaza," graduate Gabriella Bain said while marching. "This is a privilege that we have, right now, to even have a stadium to walk out of – and to have a graduation to leave.”
Earlier this week, some IU faculty and staff held a rally to support Israel and “condemn the glorification of Hamas.”