Catherine Rusoff
Dozens of students walked out of Duke University’s commencement ceremony on Sunday as actor and comedian Jerry Seinfeld was about to give his speech, according to videos posted on social media.
In a video posted on X, people were seen waving Palestinian flags and leaving the crowd of graduates at the University of North Carolina’s football stadium.
Duke University President Vincent Price’s introduction of Seinfeld was drowned out by some people chanting “Free Palestine,” while others chanted “Jerry! Jerry!”
Seinfeld, 70, who has supported Israel since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants, recently courted controversy over his comments on what today remains an acceptable topic for comedy.
On Sunday, he received an honorary degree from Duke and delivered his commencement address without major interruptions, a Live broadcast of the ceremony showed. The live broadcast did not show the students leaving.
His speech largely avoided politics and instead focused on jokes about students, artificial intelligence and privilege.
“A lot of you are thinking, ‘I can’t believe they invited this guy.’ Too late,” he said, after promising to “defend” the concept of privilege.
“I say, use your privilege. I grew up as a Jewish boy in New York. That’s a privilege if you want to be a comedian,” he added.
As Seinfeld spoke, the departing graduates shouted, “Spread the word, divest, we won’t stop, we won’t rest” in the parking lot, The New York Times reported.
The actor has not publicly commented on the strike.
In a statement to CBS News, Frank Tramble, Duke’s vice president of marketing, communications and public relations, said, “We are excited and delighted for the Class of 2024 and their families. and as we have done throughout the year, we respect the right of everyone at Duke to express their opinions peacefully without preventing graduates and their families from celebrating their achievements.”
The student demonstration is the latest manifestation of protests that have busy campuses in the USA for several weeks as students call on universities to divest from arms suppliers and other companies that fuel and profit from war.
The protests took universities like Colombia and the University of Southern California cancel or restructure your major graduation ceremonies.
At the University of Michigan, students briefly interrupted the ceremony earlier this month.
“Peaceful protests like this have occurred at UM graduation ceremonies for decades,” university spokeswoman Colleen Mastony said after the ceremony.
This week, Xavier University of Louisiana and the University of Vermont rescinded a graduation invitation to United Nations Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield over the student protest over the conflict in the Gaza Strip. Administrators at both universities cited student and community pressure over the Biden administration’s support for Israel in its war with Hamas.
At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a small group of protesters staged what appeared to be a silent protest during graduation at Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday. A photo published by the Wisconsin State Journal showed about six people walking around the rear of the stadium, two of them carrying a Palestinian flag.
Marc Lovicott, a campus police spokesman, said the group, who he believed were students because they were wearing caps and gowns, “were kind of herded out, but they left on their own.” No arrests were made.
Dozens of Virginia Commonwealth University undergraduate students walked out of a speech by Gov. Glenn Youngkin. While some of the approximately 100 students and family members who left during the Republican governor’s speech showed support for the Palestinians, others held signs signaling opposition to Youngkin’s education policies, according to WRIC-TV.
At the University of Texas at Austin, a student raised a Palestinian flag during a graduation ceremony and refused to leave the stage for a few moments before being escorted away by security.
And at the University of California, Berkeley, a small group of pro-Palestinian protesters began waving flags and singing during graduation and were escorted to the back of the stadium, where they joined others, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. There were no large counterprotests, but some participants expressed frustration.
