News summary from Gaza and pro-Palestinian protests on US campuses on May 4

Graduation ceremonies will be held this weekend at colleges and universities across the United States, after weeks of protests in which more than 2,100 people were arrested on more than 40 college campuses in at least 25 states.

The wave of pro-Palestinian protests and university authorities’ concerns about security have already begun to affect graduation ceremonies. In Michigan, protesters disrupted a graduation ceremony at the University of Michigan’s College of Music, Theater and Dance on Friday, according to a video by a reporter from CNN affiliate Richmond Times-Dispatch.

The University of Vermont’s president announced Friday that Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, will no longer deliver the commencement address. Some protesters on campus had demanded that the university rescind its invitation to Thomas Greenfield.

All of this comes weeks after the University of Southern California decided to cancel its invitation to Asna Tabassum to speak at its ceremony. USC now plans to hold a “family graduation ceremony” on May 9, the school announced Friday, just over a week after canceling its main graduation ceremony.

These are the latest headlines:

New York News

Columbia University President Minouche Shafik said in a video message on Friday that the protesters who occupied Hamilton Hall had “crossed a new line.” Columbia University Chancellor Jeh Johnson expressed support for Shafiq’s letter in which he described the last two weeks on campus as “among the most difficult in Columbia’s history.”

The New York Police Department arrested 43 people at The New School, a private university in the city, after the school asked for help in dismantling illegal encampments, according to an NYPD spokesperson who spoke to CNN affiliate WABC on Friday.
In addition, the new school moved to online instruction on Friday.

On Friday, the New York branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations denounced the university administrations of New York University, The New School, the University of Buffalo, and Stony Brook University, over the arrest of student demonstrators.

Likewise, among the 44 people detained at Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall this week, there were 13 adults not affiliated with Columbia, six students affiliated with other educational institutions, 23 Columbia students and two school employees, the university said in a statement.

california news

President Carol L. Volt said on Friday that USC had begun a disciplinary process for campus members “who violated our policies and the law.” Folt said the university will take any other measures necessary to maintain campus security and comply with legal obligations.

Stanford University authorities sent the FBI a photo of a person at a campus camp who they say appears to be wearing a headband similar to those worn by Hamas members, university authorities said this week.

UC Riverside administration and protesters reached an agreement Friday on transparency in investments and study abroad programs. The protest camp on the campus was scheduled to disband by midnight on Friday.
Universities around the world

Students from Trinity College Dublin set up camp on campus on Friday night as part of a pro-Palestinian protest. This comes shortly after the university authorities imposed a fine on the student union of $230,000 (214,000 euros) due to disturbances resulting from previous pro-Palestinian protests.