Dozens of students walked out of Duke University’s graduation ceremony in protest of commencement speaker Jerry Seinfeld.
When the comedian was introduced, the video shows students carrying flags and chanting “Free Palestine” as they marched outside Wallace Wade Stadium on Sunday.
A flyer distributed on campus said, “When you see students leaving, follow them,” he reported. WRAL.
Seinfeld visited Israel and has openly supported it since October 7, when the militant group Hamas killed 1,200 people and kidnapped another 252, even though Israel’s military operations since then have killed more than 35,000 Palestinians.
Other graduates shouted ‘Jerry! German!’ since the actor received an honorary title and Seinfeld delivered his speech without further interruptions.
The comedian and his wife Jessica serve as national presidents of the Duke Parent Committee and are parents to a Duke alumna and a current Duke student.
During his speech, Seinfeld said his three true keys in life are hard work, paying attention, and falling in love.
“Whatever you do, I don’t care if it’s your job, your hobby, a relationship or getting a reservation at M Sushi,” he said.
‘Do an effort. Just a pure, stupid effort, without having any real idea of what I’m doing here. Effort always produces positive value, even if the result of the effort is absolute failure of the desired outcome. This is a rule of life. Just swinging the bat and praying is not a bad approach to a lot of things.’
‘Every time you can, fall in love with your coffee. Your sneakers. Your parking space in Zona Azul. “I’ve had a lot of fun in life falling in love with stupid, meaningless physical objects,” Seinfeld said.
“I’ve really spent my life focusing on the smallest things imaginable, completely oblivious to the big problems in life.”
Howard University was forced to shut down graduation for its College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences in the middle of Thursday’s ceremony.
At least one person was injured when chaos broke out after the ceremony reached capacity and guests tried to enter the auditorium, it reported. fox 5 ad.
“During the ceremony, a visitor who was unable to access the facilities, which were full, leaned against the main door and accidentally pressed on a glass and broke it,” the university said.
‘This incident caused disturbances among guests and a disruption to the program taking place inside. The guests who attended were dispersed immediately after this incident.
Columbia University has canceled its university graduation ceremony, after weeks of protests on campus over the ongoing war in Gaza.
Instead, Columbia will replace the large-scale graduation ceremony, which was scheduled for May 15, with smaller celebrations based on individual colleges within the university.
“Our students emphasized that these smaller-scale school celebrations are more meaningful to them and their families,” the Ivy League said. “As a result, we will focus our resources on those school ceremonies and keeping them safe, respectful and running smoothly.”
The New York Police Department stormed Columbia in riot gear to break up the encampment, arresting more than 100 people, and recapturing Hamilton Hall from the student occupiers.
Protesters chanting anti-war messages and waving flags packed the stage at the University of Michigan’s graduation ceremony on May 4.
Many student-protesters dressed in robes could be seen waving Palestinian flags and shouting, “Palestine will live forever” and “Reveal, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest,” as the event progressed.
In one video, people can be heard cheering and applauding the graduates as their name is called.