Dozens of students walked out of Duke University’s graduation ceremony in protest of commencement speaker Jerry Seinfeld.
As the comedian was introduced, video shows students carried flags and chanted ‘free Palestine‘ as they marched out of Wallace Wade Stadium on Sunday.
A flyer distributed on campus said, ‘When you see students walking out, follow them,’ reported WRAL.
Seinfeld visited Israel and has vocally supported it since Oct. 7 when militant group Hamas killed 1,200 people and abducted 252 others, even as Israel’s military operations since have killed more than 35,000 Palestinians.
Other graduates shouted ‘Jerry! Jerry!’ as the actor received an honorary degree, and Seinfeld delivered his speech without major interruptions.
Students carrying Palestinian flags and chanting ‘free Palestine’ walked out of Duke University’s graduation when commencement speaker Jerry Seinfeld was introduced
Seinfeld visited Israel and has vocally supported it since Oct. 7 when militant group Hamas killed 1,200 people and abducted 252 others
The comedian and his wife Jessica serve as national chairs of Duke’s Parents Committee are the parents of a Duke alumna and a current Duke student.
During his speech, Seinfeld said his three real keys to life are hard work, paying attention and falling in love.
‘Whatever you’re doing, I don’t care if it’s your job, your hobby, a relationship, getting a reservation at M Sushi,’ he said.
‘Make an effort. Just pure, stupid, no-real-idea-what-I’m-doing-here effort. Effort always yields a positive value, even if the outcome of the effort is absolute failure of the desired result. This is a rule of life. Just swing the bat and pray is not a bad approach to a lot of things.’
‘Every chance you get, fall in love with your coffee. Your sneakers. Your Blue Zone parking space. I’ve had a lot of fun in life falling in love with stupid, meaningless physical objects,’ Seinfeld said.
‘I have truly spent my life focusing on the smallest things imaginable, completely oblivious to all the big issues of living.’
Howard University was forced to shut-down its College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences graduation in the middle of the ceremony on Thursday.
At least one person was injured when chaos erupted after the ceremony reached maximum capacity and guests tried to get into the auditorium, reported FOX 5 DC.
‘During the ceremony, a visitor who was not able to enter the facility, which had reached capacity, leaned on the front door, unintentionally applying pressure to a pane causing it to break,’ the university said.
‘This incident led to a disturbance among guests and a disruption of the program taking place inside. Guests in attendance were immediately dispersed following this incident.’
Columbia University canceled its university-wide graduation ceremony, after weeks of campus protests over the ongoing war in Gaza.
Instead, Columbia will replace the large-scale commencement, which was set to happen on May 15, with smaller celebrations based in individual colleges within the university.
‘Our students emphasized that these smaller-scale, school-based celebrations are most meaningful to them and their families,’ the Ivy League said. ‘As a result, we will focus our resources on those school ceremonies and on keeping them safe, respectful, and running smoothly.’
The New York Police Department burst onto Columbia with riot gear to break up the tent encampment, arrested over 100 people, and re-take Hamilton Hall back from student occupiers.
Protesters chanting anti-war messages and waving flags mobbed the stage at University of Michigan’s graduation ceremony on May 4
Many robe-wearing student-demonstrators could be seen waving Palestinian flags and yelling, ‘Palestine will live forever,’ and ‘Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest,’ as the event went on.
In one video, people can be heard cheering and clapping for the graduates as their name is called on.