During Gov. Glenn Youngkin\u2019s commencement address at Virginia Commonwealth University, dozens of students got out of their seats and walked out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Demonstrations continued and new encampments were erected at universities across the country as commencement ceremonies<\/a> took place Saturday following weeks of pro-Palestinian protests that have led to nearly 3,000 arrests, according to an NBC News tally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dozens of students walked out of the Virginia Commonwealth University ceremony Saturday morning as Gov. Glenn Youngkin delivered the commencement address, video posted on X<\/a> showed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After several people were arrested last week<\/a> at the school as police dismantled encampments on college campuses, VCU said on its website ahead of commencement that disruptions at the ceremony were strictly prohibited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But student groups, including the VCU chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, moved forward with a \u201csilent walkout\u201d to protest Youngkin\u2019s policies and his role in the arrests of pro-Palestinian student protesters in April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Saturday, students dressed in caps and gowns quietly marched toward the back of the Greater Richmond Convention Center, prompting some people in the crowd to erupt in cheers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Commonwealth Times, the university\u2019s student newspaper, said in a post on X<\/a> that the walkout was \u201cin protest of Gov. Glenn Youngkin appearing as the keynote speaker.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other footage<\/a> posted on X showed a group of people, including some graduates, outside the convention center chanting and holding signs, including one that read, \u201cNo graduation as usual.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Attendees who left the convention center after the ceremony began would not be allowed to re-enter, the school said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The university declined to comment Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The University of Southern California in Los Angeles has held weeklong commencement events after canceling its main stage ceremony due to safety concerns over student protests<\/a>. It also scrapped Muslim student Asna Tabassum\u2019s valedictorian speech<\/a> after <\/strong>complaints about pro-Palestinian content on her Instagram page from at least two pro-Israel and Jewish groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n USC Provost Andrew Guzman said they canceled Tabassum\u2019s speech because of safety concerns amid tensions related to \u201cthe ongoing conflict in the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tabassum, who said the university\u2019s decision was thinly veiled racism<\/a>, walked the stage in a commencement ceremony Friday night and received loud applause from students and spectators, the Los Angeles Times reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joel Curran, senior vice president of communications, told the newspaper that the ceremony was \u201cjoyful, celebratory,\u201d with \u201cno disruptions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also on Saturday, students waved Palestinian flags at Claremont College’s Pitzer College graduation ceremony in Claremont, California, video posted to social media shows<\/a>. Students wearing “keffiyeh stoles” handed the flags to President Strom Thacker as they shook his hand after receiving their diplomas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Protests disrupted commencement <\/strong>ceremonies on Friday and Saturday at the University of California, Berkeley. As Sydney Roberts, the school’s student body president, addressed her fellow graduates Saturday, a group of people in the crowd began chanting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The San Francisco Chronicle<\/a> reported that soon after, about 20 students stood up and waved signs and Palestinian flags while chanting \u201cFree Palestine!\u201d Security guards escorted them to the back of the venue, according to the news outlet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n About 300 other graduates then got up and moved to a section of the venue and began chanting, prompting some people to counter-chant \u201cKick them out,\u201d the Chronicle reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During Friday\u2019s ceremony, there was a similar disruption when students removed their gowns to reveal white shirts with \u201cUC Divest\u201d written on them at UC Berkeley\u2019s law school graduation, according to the Chronicle. The university responded Friday, saying in a statement<\/a> that the interruption “did not impact the proceedings, prevent us from honoring the hard work and accomplishments of our students, or necessitate the premature conclusion of our ceremony.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The University of Pennsylvania\u2019s Wharton Executive MBA Program, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Texas at Austin will hold ceremonies throughout Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Officers in riot gear descended on the University of Pennsylvania<\/a> in Philadelphia at dawn on Friday to arrest and remove demonstrators who defied earlier orders to disperse. Police said nine of those arrested were students while the other 24 had no affiliation with the school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like other universities, the schools implemented additional safety measures and said disruptions would not be tolerated. Officials at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said graduates had to present their student ID card to enter Kenan Stadium and reminded students of free speech laws and policies that include a range of disciplinary actions for those who substantially interfere with another person\u2019s protected free speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis includes protests that limit the ability of others to hear a speaker,\u201d the school said<\/a> on its website. \u201cThe University respects the rights of peaceful protesters. While anyone \u2014 including students, faculty and staff \u2014 may gather and exercise their rights to free speech, state law and the Board of Governors policy prohibit significant disruption of University operations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The school \u2014 which has seen several campus protests\u2002<\/a>and subsequent arrests<\/a> \u2014 warned that anyone who does not comply \u201cwill be subject to arrest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n