CHICAGO – Graduation is a cherished moment for many Americans. It’s not just a glorious ceremony, it’s the moment when students are presented with the most coveted certificate of their academic career – their diploma.
But some college students who have taken part in pro-Palestinian protests may find their activism on campus means they can’t get their degrees — at least for a while.
“Four years in prison, a criminal record and nothing else,” said Yousef Hasweh, one of four University of Chicago students whose degrees have been withheld amid an investigation into the protest camps. “Ten years of high school and college study have gone down the drain because of my decision to speak freely.”
Students who were denied their degrees — some of whom have been arrested, expelled, suspended, or otherwise disciplined — say they’re in limbo and being made examples of, and are preparing for an uncertain future as they await the outcome of appeals processes and university investigations — or, in the worst case scenario, find themselves in debt and without a degree.
But despite the high risk, they told USA Today none of them regretted taking part in the campus protests against Israel’s military operation in Gaza.
“The punishment I’ve had to go through and the stress I’ve had to go through is nothing compared to what the Palestinians are going through,” said Devron Burks, a Vanderbilt University student who was arrested and expelled after occupying a campus building. “I don’t regret it, and I don’t think I ever will.”
“We stand to lose our degrees and our jobs.”
Hasweh, who has been active in pro-Palestinian protests since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas, received an email about a week before her graduation ceremony informing her that she would not be awarded her degree.
“We have recently received several complaints regarding Quad Camp, including reports of issues with disruptive behavior. After investigating the matter, you have been identified as a person potentially involved,” Jeremy W. Inabinet, associate dean of student affairs, said in an email to Haswe on May 24. “You have been subject to the disciplinary regime for disruptive behavior, and after consultation with the dean, you will not be awarded your degree until this issue is resolved.”
Inabinet Dean of Students said Haswe would be allowed to attend Saturday’s graduation ceremony, but he said that could change if the university received further reports of misconduct.
Hasweh, a political science student with family in the West Bank, suspects the university targeted him and three other classmates because they were among a group arrested on trespassing charges for participating in pro-Palestinian sit-ins in the fall. The arrests led to an eight-month-long school investigation and warnings for the students. Hasweh fears they will not get away with it again.
“Everything is on the table again and we’re gambling on dropping out,” he said. “We’re left in this desperate situation with no degree and no job.”
The university did not respond to specific questions about the arrest but said in a statement about the disciplinary process that “degrees can be awarded expeditiously depending on the resolution.”
Vanderbilt University student loses job offer after refusing to accept diploma
After being expelled from Vanderbilt University, Burks is preparing for a scary scenario in which she will end up with no degree and burdened with huge student loan debt.
Burks, 21, along with about two dozen other students, occupied the administration building for more than 10 hours before campus police dispersed the protest. Most of the students were given interim suspensions, while Burks and two others were arrested on assault charges and later expelled. The university said in a statement that the three students pushed a community service officer and staff member into the building, a charge Burks denies.
Burks, who uses “they/them” pronouns, spent hours in jail before being released. He has been banned from campus, evicted from his apartment and has spent the past few weeks sleeping in Airbnbs and on friends’ couches.
Instead of receiving ovations on stage in a 30,000-seat football stadium, Ms. Burks celebrated her graduation a few days early in her own backyard in Nashville. In front of dozens of students, faculty, staff and local activists, Ms. Burks received a mock diploma and a superlative compliment: “I’ll most likely go on a date after this.”
Now, from her home in Georgia, Burks is searching for work while she goes through a difficult appeals process to get her degree — she’s studying psychology and has already had one job offer rescinded.
“It was the most stressful time I’ve ever been in,” Burks said. “Without my degree, I couldn’t move on with my life.”
Students say Harvard will not offer degrees until at least 2026
Harvard University has banned several students from graduating after they took part in pro-Palestinian protests, according to a statement from student organizers.
Syd Sanders, a fourth-year student who may not receive his degree until May 2026, told USA Today he was “shocked” by the university’s decision, adding that he and his fellow students were being punished to deter other protests.
“This is insanity,” said Sanders, 22. “I think this is a really despicable act by the school and it really shows where they stand on free speech.”
Harvard spokesman Jonathan Palumbo said in an email that the university “does not comment on specific student disciplinary matters.”
Sanders said her family was upset with the school and disappointed that they wouldn’t be able to see her walk on graduation day. Returning to Belfast, Maine, Sanders, who was one of the first openly transgender high school valedictorians in the United States, is looking for work as a union organizer.
“I’m going to move on with my life,” he said. “I’m going to appeal and try to get my diploma, but right now I’m just really excited to get out of there.”
Two Princeton students’ degrees at risk
At Princeton University, the degrees of two seniors remain uncertain pending the outcome of an investigation into protests at the university’s annual graduation event.
Protesters were seen on video rising to their feet, holding up red-painted hands and yelling pro-Palestinian slogans during a speech by President Christopher Eisgruber on May 25. After a few minutes, the demonstrators left and continued their protest outside.
Kari Franklin, one of two non-degree-seeking seniors, was in the auditorium but did not participate in the protest, she told The Daily Princetonian. She said she was among a group of students arrested when police broke up a sit-in in late April and decided to leave to avoid discipline. Franklin and the other students received summonses for trespassing and were temporarily banned from campus.
“When a senior is suspected of disciplinary infractions immediately prior to graduation, it is standard university practice to withhold the conferral of the degree pending the conclusion of a disciplinary investigation,” Princeton spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill said in a statement.
“The University will continue to enforce viewpoint-neutral time, place and manner rules during end-of-year events. A wide range of protest activities will be permitted, including walking out of events. Significant disruption of University operations or events will not be permitted.”
On Monday, Franklin received an email saying she could attend graduation but would not be given her diploma until the investigation was complete.
“It’s very surreal. On the one hand, I still can’t quite comprehend that the university would go this far and take such extreme action when there was absolutely no indication, no warning or reasonable expectation that any rules would be violated,” he told the student newspaper, “but at the same time, I’m not surprised.”
The punishment will continue through the summer holidays.
Dozens of students at some schools are at risk of suspension or other disciplinary action.
Columbia officials have given interim, and potentially permanent, suspensions to more than 30 students, according to Divest Apartheid Columbia, a coalition of pro-Palestinian student groups. Barnard College students who protested at Columbia were also suspended, the group said.
Neither Barnard College nor Columbia University, which has been at the center of campus protests for months, responded to requests for comment.
In Florida, administrators at New College, a progressive public liberal arts school that Republicans are trying to remake into a conservative institution, said students who disrupted the May 17 graduation ceremony by booing and chanting “liberate Palestine” could face having their degrees revoked and being suspended.
“We support and protect the right to free speech and are adamant about respectful debate,” the school said in a statement. “The disruption of a few individuals at a ceremony attended by hundreds of people does not meet either principle.”
“I’d like to do it 1000 times.”
Haswe, a University of Chicago student, dreamed of attending the prestigious university years before he was accepted, but his long-awaited graduation weekend will be filled with frustration for him and his family.
“How can a mother not be outraged that the school that is supposed to care for her child has treated her so cruelly?” Haswe said.
Still, Haswe remains determined.
“Even if I didn’t get my degree, I would do it again a thousand times,” he said.
