Pomona School has moved Sunday’s graduation ceremony 30 miles away to the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, after pro-Palestine protesters arrange an encampment this week on the ceremony stage.
Tickets will probably be required to attend the 6 p.m. occasion, which the faculty mentioned will embody extra safety measures. The school will present transportation companies to graduates.
“We are deeply grateful for your patience in this extraordinary situation and we look forward to honoring our graduates on Sunday. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience of these changes made to ensure that the Class of 2024 can graduate with their loved ones in attendance,” Pomona officers wrote in an announcement on their web site.
The choice follows a call by USC to cancel the normal predominant campus graduation ceremony and as an alternative maintain an alternate celebration on the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum this previous Thursday, which featured fireworks and a drone present.
As at USC, pro-Palestine protests have roiled the Pomona campus, with pupil activists demanding that the faculty publicly name for a cease-fire and divest school endowment funds from companies tied to Israel’s conflict towards Hamas within the Gaza Strip and the occupation of the West Financial institution. In April, police carrying riot gear arrested 19 protesters who had occupied the faculty president’s workplace.
“Pomona is feeling the pressure. Admin would rather spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to move graduation instead of engaging with student demands,” activists with Pomona Divest From Apartheid wrote in an Instagram put up following Pomona’s announcement. “What we are doing is working. We are strong and united!”
