US campus protests: “Student arrests will be the last memories of college”

In January 2020, they became seniors in high school. Graduation was just around the corner. But so was a deadly pandemic.

By mid-March, the coronavirus had upended daily life, forcing many students to spend the final months of school at home. Prom has been canceled.

Four years later, those same students are now attending college and about to graduate. And once again, they are facing a similar deterioration of what would normally be a festive situation.

Pro-Palestinian protests have erupted on more than 130 college campuses across the United States, with organizers demanding that universities sever ties with companies with ties to Israel.

They set up a vast encampment in the middle of university grounds, ignoring repeated warnings to disperse, leading to police raids and more than 2,000 arrests.

A second look at how three seniors are coping with this turbulent end to their academic careers.

Madison Morris, 22, University of Texas

The day the state trooper came was also the day I took my final final exam. When I arrived on campus, they were already there, looming over the students.

The tension was extremely high. I have never been so close to so many police officers before. It was scary.

I didn’t study much that day and couldn’t concentrate. All I kept thinking about was what I had just seen. I don’t think I did as well as I expected on the exam.

My last day of class was the day I saw protesters, my fellow students, who had gathered peacefully on the main lawn, dragged away by police and arrested.

It will be etched in my memory forever. Those will be my memories of my last moments of college.

It’s hard to even feel happy right now when you’re only seeing the negative things that are happening. I feel like I’m too overwhelmed to even truly celebrate my accomplishments.

Next week is the graduation ceremony. I wasn’t able to get my hands on the real thing when I was in high school, so I looked forward to it for four years. Due to Covid we had to wear masks and practiced social distancing. It wasn’t the same.

I was hoping for a traditional graduation ceremony this year. I’ve been trying to make the most of my senior year and really trying to take it all in, but it’s hard when something like this is happening. Like the coronavirus, it all feels super dystopian, to be honest.

Craig Birkhead Morton, 21, Yale University

I was one of the 48 students arrested on April 22nd. I woke up at 6:30 in the camp to a warning from the security guard that we were surrounded by police. They told us to stand up and prepare for arrest. I went to class that day. It’s a very difficult time and a whole new level of stress.

Two final papers have been submitted. An Arabic language project is planned. And I’m still behind on it because of everything that’s going on.

Senior year is very important when I think about my family. They want to see me graduate. That was my big concern.

I have not yet heard how the university plans to respond. And in many ways, it’s scarier than an actual lawsuit.

You may not even be allowed to walk at the graduation ceremony. You may not receive your diploma or final transcript. For me, transcripts are very important. Required for admission to an admitted master’s program at Columbia University.

Personally, I feel that all the knowledge gained at Yale should be gained for a good reason. That’s why I felt it necessary to draw a line on this point. The situation in Palestine is unacceptable.

I remember the first week of March during my senior year of high school. We were sent home and things went remote.

I didn’t know it would be the end, but it was. No prom, no graduation. The pandemic has wreaked havoc, and so have the Black Lives Matter protests. It was also an important part of the end of my high school career and what organized me to get to where I am today.

Melissa Manesh, 21, University of Southern California

The last few days we spend on campus as students should be a happy time. And now it is occupied by protesters. There’s so much confusion going on. It’s frustrating.

Demonstrators are ruining student life. Libraries aren’t open when most people are trying to study for their final exams.

Helicopters are flying around. There are only two entrances to the campus open, so some people have to walk very long distances. Protesters have also cordoned off large areas of campus, making it feel unsafe to walk.

For Jewish students, I know that many of us are scared. They will yell at you. They will call you a genocide supporter. We don’t want to see these protesters and their very aggressive signs. The stress of having to study increases. It’s hard not to think about this when everything is happening in front of you. It’s very distracting.

If you had told me that the graduation ceremony would be canceled, I would not have believed you. When we found out, we were all really distraught and upset. This was supposed to be one of the biggest moments in our academic careers – the moment we were all waiting for – but now it has passed.

I was also a high school graduate in 2020, but at that time there was no graduation ceremony due to the new coronavirus. This feels really similar and is very sad and upsetting. But now it feels deeper and more personal. This time, not all graduates around the world will be missing out on the ceremony. That’s all USC alumni.