Group of grads turn their backs on Princeton U. president in pro-Palestinian protest

A group of Princeton University graduates stood up and turned their backs on the Ivy League school’s president while he spoke at commencement Tuesday amid ongoing tensions on campus over Israel-Hamas war protests.

More than 30 members of the nearly 1,900 graduates — including many wearing keffiyehs, the traditional Middle Eastern headdress often worn by pro-Palestinian protesters — turned their backs to Princeton President Christopher L. Eisgruber as he closed out commencement with his address.

About ten students sitting near the front row of the graduation ceremony also quietly walked out midway through Eisgruber’s speech in a pro-Palestinian demonstration similar to others that have occurred at college commencements across the country.

The demonstration did not cause a major disruption to the ceremony in Princeton Stadium as Eisgruber continued his speech while the majority of the graduates and audience remained quiet.

Students planned the silent protest to show support for Palestinians and urge Princeton to call for ceasefire and divest from companies with investments tied to the war, organizers said.

A few students and their families also stood outside the gates of Princeton Stadium after the ceremony as people exited, chanting and holding signs calling for an end to the war.

The protesters’ goals included asking the university administration “to end the silence and to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and Rafa,” said one of the Princeton graduates, a student from California, who helped organize the demonstration. She asked that her name not be used, as have many of the pro-Palestinian protesters at Princeton over the last few months who said they feared for their safety if their names were made public.

Princeton University officials did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the protest.

In April, the university arrested a dozen students for participating in a pro-Palestinian protest that included taking over a university building. Two students were also arrested for setting up tents during a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus, which administrators said violated school rules.

Some students and faculty members questioned Princeton’s response to protesters and their encampment.

In his speech, Eisgruber spoke about the difficulty of delivering a graduation speech, especially in “polarizing times,” when a university‘s commencement speaker choice can stir up controversy.

“Princeton has mostly avoided that predicament by virtue of its rule that the president is the commencement speaker every year, though in this year, I recognize that I am myself a controversial choice for at least some of you in these deeply troubled times,” Eisgruber said.

“I wish that I had some sage, original and unforgettable counsel to offer you about how to heal our aching and torn world,” he said. “I do not think that I can claim such insight in this moment.”

Princeton University Commencement 2024 — A graduate walks out during remarks by the president of the university during Princeton University Commencement ceremonies in Princeton on Tuesday, May 28, 2024. Ed Murray| For NJ Advance Media

Similar pro-Palestinian protests have been staged at other New Jersey universities. During Rutgers-New Brunswick’s commencement ceremony earlier this month, dozens of graduates wearing keffiyehs walked out during the end of commencement speaker Freeman A. Hrabowski III’s speech.

But none of the New Jersey commencements have had large-scale protests similar to those seen in other parts of the country. At Harvard University earlier this month hundreds of students walked out and chanted “Free, free Palestine” during commencement.

At Morehouse College, an all-male, historically Black school in Atlanta, President Joe Biden served as this year’s commencement speaker. During his speech, students walked out, raised their fists and turned their backs.

At Princeton’s ceremony, nearly 1,300 undergraduate degrees and 600 graduate degrees were conferred.

In keeping with the tradition of awarding honorary degrees to high-profile figures, the university honored seven notable individuals at the ceremony.

The recipients, whose identities were kept a surprise until the day of the event, included Joyce Carol Oates, one of the country’s most celebrated writers and a Princeton professor, and Rubén Blades, a Grammy Award-winning Afro-Cuban and salsa musician.

Other honorary degree recipients were: former U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander; Paula A. Johnson, the first Black woman president of Wellesley College; Randall Kennedy, a legal scholar who focuses of racial issues; Gen. Mark A. Milley, who served as the nation’s highest-ranking military officer; and Terrence J. Sejnowski, the head of Salk Institute’s Computational Neurobiology Laboratory.

Tuesday’s commencement followed Princeton’s traditional Class Day ceremony on Monday, where “Law and Order” actor Sam Waterston addressed the graduates, urging them to be critical thinkers and seek answers.

Commencement day unfolded under sunny, warm weather at the packed stadium, where students wore traditional black gowns and orange hoods.

Eisgruber said the members of the Class of 2024 faced challenges, including either starting their first year online due to the COVID-19 pandemic or choosing to take a gap year until the campus fully reopened.

“You came to Princeton and you breathed new life into our community,” Eisgruber said. “For that, I am grateful to you.”