Dozens of graduating college students walked out of Virginia Commonwealth College (VCU) on Saturday after Gov. Glenn Youngkin took the stage to ship a graduation deal with.
Video of the Saturday morning incident reveals throngs of graduates getting up from their seats and leaving the Better Richmond Conference Heart because the Republican governor started speaking.
A number of could possibly be heard cheering the scholars on.
The governor, who additionally acquired an honorary doctorate of humane letters on the graduation ceremony, kicked off his speech with a shout-out to all of the moms forward of Mom’s Day.
He didn’t acknowledge these leaving and carried on along with his speech.
“The world wants your music,” Youngkin stated to these college students nonetheless in attendance. “You, all of you, would be the symphony. Make it a masterpiece.”
Many who left throughout Youngkin’s speech confirmed assist for Palestinians amid Israel’s ongoing battle within the Gaza Strip towards Hamas terrorists.
Others held indicators signaling their opposition to the governor’s schooling insurance policies, per reporting from native outlet WRIC-TV.
The dissenters marched across the perimeter whereas chanting, “No books, no peace, let the information enhance” and “Disclose, divest, we won’t cease, we won’t relaxation.” Later, a bunch of graduates, many nonetheless of their commencement robes, ended up in a park and chanted, “The individuals united won’t ever be defeated.”
Fox Information Digital reached out to VCU and the governor’s workplace for remark.
Related scenes unfolded at different graduation ceremonies throughout the nation on Saturday following weeks of unrest on faculty campuses that noticed anti-Israel protesters sq. off towards directors.
Saturday was much less chaotic than Friday, when police arrested dozens on different faculty campuses and took down encampments on the College of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Know-how – actions that got here hours after police deployed tear gasoline on demonstrators on the College of Arizona.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
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