Several hundred demonstrators crossed the barricades to join the pro-Palestinian demonstrators at MIT who had until May 6 to leave the camp.
JOSH REYNOLDS/AP
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Several hundred demonstrators crossed the barricades to join the pro-Palestinian demonstrators at MIT who had until May 6 to leave the camp.
JOSH REYNOLDS/AP
Four years ago, Keilee Northcutt graduated at the top of her class from Tullahoma High School in Tennessee. But instead of strutting on stage in front of her proud parents, she was relegated to the front seat of her mother’s car as they took a lap of the football field, quickly collected her diploma, then headed home.
There were no smiling selfies with her best friends, no class parties, and no fancy awards ceremony to celebrate high achievers like her. Instead, she received a shout-out on Facebook.
At the time, it was COVID-19 that stole his moment. This time, as Northcutt prepares to graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, it’s campus unrest that threatens to rob him of a second chance of sorts.
Keilee Northcutt’s graduation celebration was disrupted by COVID-19. She now fears that her commencement ceremony at MIT could be canceled due to ongoing protests against the war in Gaza.
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Keilee Northcutt’s graduation celebration was disrupted by COVID-19. She now fears that her commencement ceremony at MIT could be canceled due to ongoing protests against the war in Gaza.
Tovia Smith/Tovia Smith
Tensions have been rising on campus for months because of the war in Gaza. In April, student protesters formed an encampment on MIT’s Kresge Lawn, and horrific and increasingly violent clashes followed. Before dawn Friday, police in riot gear began dismantling tents and arresting students who refused to leave. MIT President Sally Kornbluth called it a “last resort” to keep the campus “physically safe and functional for everyone.”
Protesters have vowed to return, heightening security concerns at the school’s next commencement ceremony, scheduled for May 30. Universities across the country, from Columbia University to the University of Southern California, have already canceled school-wide ceremonies due to similar unrest.
Northcutt says she’s preparing for the worst while hoping for the best. “It would be nice to walk across the stage for once in my life,” she said, adding that her parents had long ago planned to travel from Tennessee to attend.
“My parents have already booked tickets and hotels. So having to tell them that I won’t be graduating again would be a bit hard.”
But if the class of 2024 has learned anything, it’s to expect the unexpected.
Students still scarred by their “stunted and weird” first-year experience
They began their studies completely away from their childhood bedrooms and kitchen tables, met their classmates only in 2D via Zoom, and strove to make a real connection with their peers and teachers. In the second semester, many students physically returned to campus, but were still limited to officially registered groups of six students.
MIT seniors Mikayla Britsch and Nicole Harris remember how difficult it was to make friends while attending virtual classes as freshmen during Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns.
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MIT seniors Mikayla Britsch and Nicole Harris remember how difficult it was to make friends while attending virtual classes as freshmen during Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns.
Tovia Smith/NPR
This is the scar tissue of the Class of 2024: the academic challenges of online learning, compounded by the social stress of pandemic distancing.
“I feel like everyone in our year only has ten friends because our first year was so stunted and weird,” says MIT senior Mikayla Britsch. Sitting in one of their last classes this week, Britsch and classmate Nicole Harris recalled the bad old days of COVID-19.
“It was doubly difficult,” says Harris. “I remember being very stressed, trying to meet new people, but also worrying about how to adapt to classes at MIT.”
“Yes, I’m still traumatized by it,” Britsch laughs.
The challenges would continue to present themselves, with two tumultuous presidential elections, the racial reckoning that followed the police killing of George Floyd, and now, the upheaval since the war between Israel and Hamas.
That’s a lot – especially for this class that has endured more than its fair share.
“I was going back to my dorm and there were hordes of state troopers here,” Northcutt said, remembering attempts earlier this week to clear the camp. “It was actually kind of crazy.”
Student protesters calling for divestment from Israeli universities have set up encampments over the past month on dozens of campuses across the country, including at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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Student protesters calling for divestment from Israeli universities have set up encampments over the past month on dozens of campuses across the country, including at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Steven Senne/AP
Protests spark new fears and new friends
MIT senior Marylyn Meyers, who is Jewish, says fear and division are even more intense now than they were during the pandemic.
“COVID has been difficult from a social perspective,” she says. “But the hostile environment that currently exists is much worse.”
It’s painful, Meyers said, to see classmates rooting for each other on opposing sides.
“People were kicked out of study groups, they were surrounded by protesters, and I felt personally attacked by many of my peers saying horrible things about me,” Meyers says. She no longer feels safe on campus.
Jamil Dellawer, a student at MIT, says the experience of camping inside the barricades was positive. “I’ve made a lot more friends here than in the last three years,” he admits.
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Jamil Dellawer, a student at MIT, says the experience of camping inside the barricades was positive. “I’ve made a lot more friends here than in the last three years,” he admits.
Tovia Smith/NPR
It is perhaps a sign of the depth of their division that other students – who demonstrated, chanted, studied, ate and slept together inside the metal barricades of their encampment – described their experience of these recent weeks as positive.
“Honestly, I’ve made a lot more friends here than I have in the last three years,” said Jamil Dellawer, an MIT senior, sitting inside the camp earlier this week. It’s great, he says, to meet so many like-minded students. “Honestly, it’s really beautiful.”
Another senior, Omar Dahleh, says he, too, has found a new community, and with it, new hope. A Palestinian Muslim from Jerusalem, Dahleh says he opposes “Israeli state building” and finds comfort in connecting with others who also hold that view.
“These moments will stay with me for the rest of my life because, for the first time in a long time, I see that a better future for my people is possible,” he said. “It’s not a distant dream.”
Unique lessons on resilience and perspective for promotion
Meanwhile, students who are not participating in the protests fear the ongoing unrest will disrupt their graduation celebrations.
Several commencement ceremonies have already been disrupted, including at Northeastern University’s undergraduate ceremony last week, where a student was arrested after approaching the speakers’ stand with a Palestinian flag.
Northeast graduate John Cohen says he was very upset to see protesters with their hands painted red, a controversial symbol he interprets as celebrating the murder of Jews.
“It was crazy, and honestly, it was horrible,” says Cohen, who is Jewish. “You work so hard and you have to sit there and watch these people ruin your moment. It’s not right.”
Despite Gen Z’s reputation as emotionally fragile and pessimistic, Cohen is quick to add that all the disappointments and twists and turns of the past four years have only made him stronger.
“Before, I was a little more optimistic in general,” he admits. “But for now, I roll with the punches, I see what life throws at you. It’s the only thing you can do.”
Resilience is definitely one of the lessons learned the hard way by the class of 2024; just like perspective. As one student said: It would be a shame if the commencement ceremony didn’t take place, but these are small issues compared to the war that so many students are concerned about right now.
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