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VCU Students Leave Governor Youngkin’s Commencement Address

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Dozens of graduating students left Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) on Saturday after Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin took the stage to deliver a commencement address.

Video of the Saturday morning incident shows a crowd of graduates rising from their seats and leaving the Greater Richmond Convention Center as the Republican governor began to speak. Some could be heard cheering on the students.

RICHMOND, VA – MAY 11: Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin delivers the VCU commencement address in Richmond, Virginia, on May 11, 2024. (Parker Michels-Boyce for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
(Parker Michels-Boyce for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The governor, who also received an honorary doctorate in humane letters at the beginning of Saturday, began his speech with a greeting to all mothers before Mother’s Day. He did not recognize those who were leaving and continued with his speech.

“The world needs your music,” Youngkin told the students still in attendance. “You, all of you, will be the symphony. Make it a masterpiece.”

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Many of those who walked out during Youngkin’s speech showed their support for the Palestinians amid Israel’s ongoing war in the Gaza Strip against Hamas terrorists. Others carried signs indicating their opposition to the governor’s education policies, according to a report from local media WRIC-TV.

Dissidents marched around the perimeter shouting: “No books, no peace, let knowledge increase” and “disseminate, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest.” Later, a group of graduates, many of them still in their graduation gowns, ended up in a park shouting, “the people united will never be defeated.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to VCU and the governor’s office for comment.

Dozens of students file out of the auditorium as Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin begins to speak during VCU’s graduation ceremony in Richmond, Virginia, on May 11, 2024. (Parker Michels-Boyce for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Similar scenes broke out at other graduation ceremonies across the country on Saturday, following weeks of unrest on college campuses in which anti-Israel protesters clashed with administrators.

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Saturday was less chaotic than Friday, when police arrested dozens on other college campuses and broke up encampments at the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, actions that came hours after police fired tear gas at protesters. at the University of Arizona.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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