VCU students walk out of commencement protesting Youngkin speech

Students at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) walked out of a graduation ceremony to protest a speech by Governor Glenn Youngkin (R-Va.).

About 100 of the 1,200 graduates who attended Saturday’s graduation ceremony silently filed out of the Greater Richmond Convention Center, some wearing kaffiyeh scarves and holding signs that read “Teach Black History” and “Books.” Some people wore placards that read “No [do not equal] Respect learning.” The Washington Post reported.

Yonkin, who won the 2021 election, continued his speech. The Hill has reached out to Youngkin’s office for comment.

The University of Richmond has a long history of having sitting governors deliver commencement addresses, the paper reported.

Earlier this week, the Virginia NAACP VCU branch sent a letter to the Board of Visitors and the university president asking them to rescind Youngkin’s invitation to speak.

“The administration’s decision to continue to postpone racial literacy requirements and comply with Governor Yonkin’s request for access to the syllabus is anti-democratic and anti-intellectual,” the group said in the letter. Stated. 13 News Now reported. “These actions not only undermine academic freedom from intellectual inquiry, but perpetuate a narrative that misses the complex nuances of racial history.”

The university handed out cards congratulating the graduates to those in attendance, but also said anyone who disrupted the ceremony would be subject to expulsion, the Post reported.

The walkout follows a number of other demonstrations at university graduation ceremonies and pro-Palestinian protests across the country occurring on college campuses. More than 2,000 people were arrested at demonstrations across the country.

Police used pepper spray to disperse the crowd during the demonstration on VCU’s campus, and 13 people, including six students, were arrested, the paper said.

students spoke WWBT 12 On Your Sidesaid it was “very concerned” that Yonkin had been chosen as a speaker.

They opposed several Youngkin principles, including the LGBTQ+ community and critical race theory.

“University protests that cross the line, such as starting to build unauthorized encampments on campus, threatening other students, or attempting to disrupt school operations, will not be tolerated,” Yonkin said. It will not be done.”

Last week, students disrupted the University of Michigan’s graduation ceremony to protest the university’s investments in companies with ties to Israel.