Pomona Faculty has moved Sunday’s graduation ceremony 30 miles away to the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, after pro-Palestine protesters arrange an encampment this week on the ceremony stage.
Tickets will probably be required to attend the 6 p.m. occasion, which the school mentioned will embody extra safety measures. The school will present transportation providers to graduates.
“We’re deeply grateful in your persistence on this extraordinary state of affairs and we stay up for honoring our graduates on Sunday. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience of those adjustments made to make sure that the Class of 2024 can graduate with their family members in attendance,” Pomona officers wrote in a press release on their web site.
The choice follows a call by USC to cancel the standard important campus graduation ceremony and as a substitute maintain an different celebration on the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum this previous Thursday, which featured fireworks and a drone present.
As at USC, pro-Palestine protests have roiled the Pomona campus, with pupil activists demanding that the school publicly name for a cease-fire and divest school endowment funds from companies tied to Israel’s battle in opposition to Hamas within the Gaza Strip and the occupation of the West Financial institution. In April, police carrying riot gear arrested 19 protesters who had occupied the school president’s workplace.
“Pomona is feeling the strain. Admin would relatively spend a whole bunch of 1000’s of {dollars} to maneuver commencement as a substitute of partaking with pupil calls for,” activists with Pomona Divest From Apartheid wrote in an Instagram put up following Pomona’s announcement. “What we’re doing is working. We’re sturdy and united!”
