Emory University 2024 commencement held without major disruption
DULUTH, Ga. - Emory University braced for more protests after moving Monday morning's commencement off campus.
Despite the concern, there wasn't a mass protest during the ceremony. However, graduates still made their voices heard by passing around a Palestinian flag.
The university announced that the 2024 commencement would be shifted from the school's Decatur campus to Gas South Arena 22 miles away a week ago after recent demonstrations.
In his letter announcing the change, Emory President Gregory L. Fenves said the move was due to concerns about safety and security.
"I have been firm in my commitment that Emory will celebrate our graduating students at Commencement. While that commitment has not changed, concerns about safety and security require us to adjust the plans," Fenves wrote in the letter.
The ceremony, typically held on the quadrangle, took place Monday morning at the Gas South Arena in Duluth for all undergraduate bachelor's degree candidates from Emory College of Arts & Sciences, the Goizueta Business School (BBA), the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing (BSN), and the School of Medicine (Bachelor of Medical Science) and their previously ticketed guests. Graduates from Oxford College as well as graduate and professional programs are invited to view the ceremony via webcast.
Emory University's commencement will now be at Gas South Arena.
While acknowledging the change would be "deeply disappointing" for many graduating students, Fenves said that the decision was not made lightly and that they consulted the school's police department, security advisors, and other agencies.
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Many in the Class of 2024 weren't able to cross the stage for their high school diplomas, so some students say a change in venue is better than the alternative.
"I feel like college is really important to my family, like getting that education," Amelia Tamez, a senior, told FOX 5 Atlanta. "So, I feel like walking across the stage is kind of a final, you know, you did it, and you made it this far."
Despite the change in venues, pro-Palestine group Emory Divest says it will hand out free keffiyehs and Palestine flags outside of the arena. The group is asking students to show their support for the protests by handing the faculty who is giving out diplomas the flag on stage.
Protests at Emory University
On April 25, students and others calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war set up an encampment on the school's campus. The situation became chaotic when the protesters refused to leave, resulting in multiple arrests during a confrontation between police officers and protesters.
Emory officials said the protesters who had set up an encampment were trespassing on private property and refused to leave, leading the school to ask the Atlanta Police Department and Georgia State Patrol for assistance.
The officers used Tasers and pepper balls to bring the crowd under control. Several people were placed in handcuffs and loaded into vans.
Video circulated widely on social media shows two women who identified themselves as professors being detained, with one of them slammed to the ground by one officer as a second officer then pushes her chest and face onto a concrete sidewalk.
Pro-Palestinian protesters return to Emory University (Credit: FOX 5 Photojournalist Billy Heath)
The school claimed that the group were activists who were not connected with Emory, with a spokesperson claiming that the protesters were "attempting to disrupt our university as our students finish classes and prepare for finals." Days later, Fenves backtracked from that claim, saying it "was not fully accurate."
Since the clash with law enforcement, protests on the campus have remained mostly calm with only one run-in with a counterprotester last week.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced it has opened an investigation into Emory University over allegations of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian activity at the college.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.