After more than a week of pro-Palestinian demonstrations on its Atlanta campus, Emory University announced Monday it will move its commencement ceremonies from campus to the Gas South District in Duluth.
In a letter to community members, Emory President Gregory L. Fenves said safety concerns led officials to move graduation-related ceremonies indoors to the complex, which includes the Gas South Arena and the Gas South Convention Center. The complex is 22 miles away from campus.
“Please know that this decision was not taken lightly,” Fenves wrote. “It was made in close consultation with the Emory Police Department, security advisers, and other agencies — each of which advised against holding Commencement events on our campuses.”
On April 25, students set up an encampment on campus to call for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war and to oppose plans to build an Atlanta public safety training center. Although protesters say the encampment was peaceful, police made several arrests and used chemical irritants to disperse the crowd. Fenves originally said “highly organized, outside protesters” were responsible for the protests, but later walked those comments back. Fifteen of the 23 people arrested on April 25 were students.
The university, which is private, posted changes to the schedule on its commencement website, which includes an FAQ section. Events will be livestreamed, Emory says. Students and faculty should bring their Emory IDs with them. The ceremony is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Monday.
Also on Monday, another college that has been in the national spotlight because of campus protests — Columbia University in New York City — announced it is canceling its large universitywide commencement ceremony.
Columbia made the decision following weeks of pro-Palestinian protests that have roiled its campus, but said students will still be able to celebrate at a series of smaller, school-based ceremonies this week and next.
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
For years, Emory has held its commencement on the grassy quad in the middle of its Atlanta campus. That space, though, was where the encampment began. Security might be more difficult to manage in an open space. Emory police arrested a North Carolina man on the quad about a week ago and charged him with criminal trespass, possession of a weapon in a school safety zone and other charges. Authorities said the man, identified as Derek Zika, was carrying knives and a pepper spray canister.
Fenves acknowledged Monday’s announcement will be “deeply disappointing” to many reading the message. He’s been heavily criticized for the university’s response to the encampment. Faculty members in the Emory College of Arts and Sciences on Friday overwhelmingly approved a “no confidence” vote in Fenves, condemning the “violence” and the use of force on April 25. It’s the largest faculty group at the university.
Fenves held a virtual meeting with students Monday. Former Emory Student Government Association President Khegan Meyers, who is graduating, asked Fenves on the call about student concerns with accessibility at and transportation to the new venue.
The university later said students can sign up for shuttles that will take them to and from the new venue on graduation day. As a low-income student, Meyers said the relocation announcement exactly one week before the commencement ceremony was a “very last minute change of things” that his family and other students’ families will have to adjust to.
Emory’s FAQ says attendees may not engage in excessive noise or chants, hold protests where the health and safety of others is threatened, or knowingly interfere with unimpeded movement at the event. Gas South Arena requires guests to have their bags checked and pass through a metal detector.
For some Emory seniors, the announcement was not entirely unexpected, with several citing the recent cancellations of commencement ceremonies at Columbia University and the University of Southern California.
”I told one of my relatives to anticipate the possibility of changes to my graduation schedule, so I definitely saw some changes coming,” Emory senior Catherine Cronin said.
However, while some students expected this change, Cronin said that the university’s cancellation of several smaller graduation ceremonies was surprising and the “biggest disappointment.”
As a graduate of Oxford College, Emory’s first- and second-year campus located in Oxford, about 35 miles away from the Atlanta campus, Cronin had been looking forward to the Oxford Continuee Graduate Reception, which was originally scheduled for May 9 before Emory canceled.
”I was really excited for that, hoping to connect maybe with some Oxford faculty, some of my Oxford classmates,” Cronin said.
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