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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — A group of graduates walked out of the Harvard commencement on Thursday chanting “Free, Free Palestine” after weeks of protests on campus.
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School officials announced Wednesday, the day before graduation, that 13 Harvard students who participated in a protest encampment would not be able to receive diplomas alongside their classmates.
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Some students chanted “Let them walk, let them walk walk,” during Thursday’s commencement, referring to allowing those 13 students to get their diplomas along with fellow graduates.
Student speaker Shruthi Kumar said “this semester our freedom of speech and our expressions of solidarity became punishable,” she said to cheers and applause.
She said she had to recognize “the 13 undergraduates in the class of 2024 who will not graduate today,” generating prolonged cheers and clapping from graduates. “I am deeply disappointed by the intolerance for freedom of speech and the right to civil disobedience on campus.”
Over 1,500 students had petitioned, and nearly 500 staff and faculty had spoken up, all over the sanctions, she said.
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