The University of Michigan’s 101st Annual Honors Convocation was cut short as about 100 U-M students staged a demonstration condemning the University’s investment in companies profiting from Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Students held signs reading “Divest Now,” “30,000 killed” and “No Honor in Genocide,” among the rows of Hill Auditorium’s audience and on stage. The protest interrupted a speech by University President Santa Ono, who sat down and later left the stage as hundreds of attendees left the auditorium. The protest was organized by the TAHRIR Coalition, a coalition of more than 80 U-M student organizations, including Students Allied for Freedom and Equality, and continued outside after the ceremony concluded early.
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, SAFE board member Zainab Hakim said she and other TAHRIR members chose to interrupt Ono’s speech because the convocation represents excellence at the University.
“(The ceremony) is one of those things that symbolizes, ‘Oh, we’re such an excellent university,’ like Leaders and the Best,” Hakim said. “It’s like, ‘Oh, actually, you’re not that good of a university. You can’t call yourself the best if you’re funding genocide, if you’ve repeatedly refused to divest from Israel and a war of occupation when you clearly can.’ ”
Outside, protesters circled Hill Auditorium and the outdoor tent with convocation refreshments, shouting chants such as “Regents, regents you can’t hide, you are funding genocide” and “Regents going on the attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back.”
Engineering senior Joseph Ryan attended the ceremony while the protest unfolded. In an interview with The Daily after the ceremony ended, Ryan said he supports the protesters and believes the University should invest its money elsewhere.
“I would say I do support (the protesters) because they do have the power to reinvest that money, and we’ve got some really good investors on this campus, and I’m sure they could find something else,” Ryan said.
Other U-M students expressed frustration with the disruption of the Honors Convocation. LSA sophomore Alexander Kaminski told The Daily the protest interrupted a time when he and other students had family members from out of town in attendance.
“I very much support people sticking up for their opinion,” Kaminski said. “I just think the manner in which this was done was disruptive of people’s achievements and taking away from something that people deserved.”
In an interview with The Daily, LSA senior Nicole Wan, organizer of the protest and co-president of the U-M ACLU Undergraduate Chapter, which is part of the TAHRIR Coalition, said the movement to divest is important to her even as someone who is not personally affected by the Israel-Hamas war, and that she hopes to use her privilege to advocate for others.
“Movements like this are really important to me,” Wan said. “Being someone who has the privilege to speak up, who is not affected by Islamophobia or antisemitism, I feel like I should speak up.”
In an email to The Michigan Daily, University spokesperson Colleen Mastony wrote that while the University administration supports students’ right to protest, the disruption at the Honors Convocation was a violation of U-M policy.
“We recently reiterated our commitment to free speech and free expression with the adoption of a statement of principles that is guided by the letter and spirit of the First Amendment,” Mastony wrote. “Although we support students’ right to protest, such rights are not limitless. Disrupting speakers and events is not protected speech and is a clear violation of university policy. More than 1,800 students who earned honors were registered to attend Honors Convocation. The ceremony was almost complete and all student awards had been given out by the time the protest began.”
Wan said the TAHRIR Coalition chose to protest at the convocation because it offered the chance to speak directly to key members of the U-M administration.
“We mainly decided that we should speak up while we’re at the Honors Convocation because Ono was speaking there, and also, the Board of Regents was present at the Honors Convocation,” Wan said. “The Board of Regents and President Ono vote on approving the investments of the University’s endowment and the endowment, as you might know, from (the) TAHRIR Divest! Don’t Arrest campaign. The endowment supports the Israeli military campaign that is continuing the ongoing genocide.”
In a statement to the U-M community released Tuesday evening, Ono expressed his disapproval with the protesters’ interruption of the event and wrote that it was not in line with the University’s principles on freedom of expression.
“The protesters’ intrusion on one of the university’s most important academic traditions was unacceptable,” Ono wrote. “It was not in keeping with our student code and our longstanding policy on freedom of speech and artistic expression.”
Ono also stated the administration would begin drafting a policy on disruption of U-M events with the University community.
“Tomorrow, we will begin seeking feedback from the university community on a draft policy governing disruption of university operations, including academic and social activities, events, gatherings, and celebrations,” Ono wrote.
Update 3/26: This article has been updated to include a comment from University spokesperson Colleen Mastony.
Update 3/26: This article has been updated to include a statement from University President Santa Ono released Tuesday evening.
Daily Staff Reporters Ellen Drejza and Amanda Venclovaite Pirani can be reached at edrejza@umich.edu and amandavp@umich.edu. Daily News Editor Rachel Mintz contributed to the reporting of this article.