Commencement at University of Colorado Denver gets briefly interrupted by pro-Palestinian protest

The University of Colorado Denver commencement ceremony over the weekend was briefly interrupted by pro-Palestinian demonstrators. The interruption happened during a speech by Chancellor Michelle Marks soon after the start of the ceremony, and the university says no arrests were made.

 
In recent weeks on the Auraria Campus in Denver (which CU Denver calls home) as well as across the country, demonstrations have been taking place where participants have been calling on universities to cut ties with Israel as the Israel-Hamas War continues. In some cases the protests have disrupted normal campus life and in others there have been some changes made to some graduation ceremonies.

CU Denver's graduation ceremony on Saturday was at the Denver Coliseum. During it an announcement was made that the ceremony should not be used to demonstrate for any political cause.

On the ceremony's livestream a graphic covered the screen for a few moments stating that the graduation video would be back momentarily before Marks was able to continue her speech.

After the ceremony the university posted a message online saying the disruption was "short-lived."

"They were escorted out after numerous warnings. There were no arrests. The disruptions were minimal and the focus of the day was on the graduates and their accomplishments."

University officials said the Denver Coliseum has a policy prohibiting any indoor protests, and that was "was communicated steadily ahead of the ceremonies."

"Policies and expectations of students and guests were shared on the CU Denver website as well as on signage at the event," the university wrote.