At UCLA Law graduation, a moment of celebration in aftermath of historic campus unrest

UCLA Law School’s celebrated its 73rd commencement on Friday, May 10, the first since unrest erupted at the campus earlier this month in major clashes and protests over the war in Gaza and a growing outcry over the university’s response.

But the historic turmoil on the Westwood campus appeared to be set aside, at least for the moment, inside the school’s iconic Pauley Pavilion, as long lines of smiling law school graduates, clad in black robe and caps, filed in for the ceremony. (Members of the media were not allowed into the event, but the ceremony was livecast on YouTube.)

Dozens of graduates wore keffiyeh, a black-and-white shawl that symbolizes Palestinian people’s yearning for freedom, over their commencement robes, visible as they sifted in to a recording of “Pomp and Circumstance.”

The event itself had moved from its traditional spot, at Dickson Court near the law school, to Pauley in early May, amid campus tensions. But those tensions turned to smiles of students, as they waved and pointed out to cheering loved ones and supporters in the arena’s seats.

While the pomp and the circumstance were still in the air, so was tightened security, inside and out.

And so was the fresh memory of the past two weeks. The tone at Pauley Friday belied a chaotic scene not far away in the pre-dawn hours of May 2, when waves of police, clad in riot gear and using flash bangs, pushed through lines of arms-linked protesters to clear a large pro-Palestinian encampment in the heart of the campus: Royce Quad. Amid the sweep, 200 were arrested.

A day before the crackdown, a violent clash between counter protesters and occupants of the tent city stunned a campus already steeped in simmering tensions.

In the days following, security was heightened and in-person classes were forced online. UCLA Chancellor Gene Block faced intense criticism for the university’s response.

Even as the law school graduation commenced, the university’s Academic Senate was set to meet in a special session the same afternoon to decide whether to censure Block for failing “to ensure the safety of our students and grievously mishandled the events of last week.” Just Wednesday, University of California faculty and staff called for his resignation.

It was clear, none of that recent past was lost on anyone.

“This has been a really hard time,” Dean Michael Waterstone, in his first year at the helm of the law school, told the crowd.

He emphasized that the graduation should be a joyful, memorable occasion, but acknowledged it was happening in a “charged moment.”

Waterstone cautioned against outbursts during the ceremony, deferring to the right to free speech, but said loud disruptors would be asked to stop, to preserve the special moment for graduates.

The dean, who attended UCLA as an undergraduate, said: “I don’t remember anything like this” in his time at the university. “I thought about what to say or whether to say anything at all.”

But, he added that the current period of darkness will ultimately lead to a renewed light, including celebrating Friday’s law graduates, who came from the law school’s multiple degree programs.

A small turf area across from Pauley Pavilion was marked with signs that “free speech zone” across from Pauley Pavilion on Friday, not specifically in case of pro-Palestinian protests, campus safety aides said. The space remained empty ahead of and during the ceremony.

Two attendees, who donned the shawls and pieces of fabric pinned to their shirts that read “Free Palestine,” left the commencement early, but said that there were no demonstrations or acts of solidarity happening while they were inside.

A UCLA political science major who was graduating during the main commencement ceremonies in June, said that she doubted anything would break out at Friday’s ceremony because of high security and the event being ticketed.

The class of 2024 student was involved in the recent campus protests, she said, including participating in a walkout and bringing food and other supplies to students who were in the encampments.

“It’s disappointing,” she added, “to see how our institution’s reacting by taking away classes and (other colleges cancelling) graduations.”

She already lost her high school graduation in 2020 because of COVID, she said, and hopes to be able to walk the stage next month to get her undergraduate degree.

The attendees declined to give names, citing privacy and security reasons.

UCLA Law’s commencement on Friday came amid a backdrop of continued campus unrest in Southern California and across the nation since some 1,200 people were killed in Israel and 253 taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7, according to Israeli tallies. The ensuing war has left 35,000 people dead in Gaza, according to Palestinian health authorities, and displaced huge numbers of people in the region.

Across Southern California, from USC to Riverside, San Bernardino and Orange counties, demonstrations large and small have continued, fueled by demands for a cease-fire in Gaza and that schools divest from entities that do business with Israel.

Back at UCLA on Friday, it was all about student achievement, the concluding of school days and the future.

There were references to what many of the students have been through, ranging from the pandemic to social unrest. Many remained mindful of the moment.

That awareness came through, perhaps, even in the words from the event’s speakers.

“When we come together, as all of us have here, we build friendships that nurture communities and forge solidarities,” graduation student speaker Shreyashi Sharma told the crowd, as she spoke of the power of social bonds to transform laws and societies. “Our solidarities traverse our individual identities, geographic values and cultural and political differences.”

Staff writer Lisa Jacobs contributed to this report