USC cancels graduation ceremony, dozens arrested in campuses as anti-war protests grow

The University of Southern California canceled its main graduation ceremony and dozens more college students were arrested at other campuses nationwide Thursday as protests against the Israelhamas war continued to spread.

College officials across the U.S. are worried the ongoing protests could disrupt plans for commencement ceremonies next month. Some universities have called in police to break up the demonstrations, resulting in ugly scuffles and hundreds of arrests, while others appeared content to wait out student protests as the final days of the semester ticked down.

Schools such as Columbia University in New York continued to negotiate with protesters who first set up an encampment last week. At California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, faculty members met with students who have barricaded themselves inside a campus building since Monday, trying to negotiate a solution. The campus was shut down earlier this week with classes moved online.

Other universities are rewriting their rules to ban encampments and moving final exams to new locations.

But encampments and protests continued to spring up Thursday. At Indiana University Bloomington, a tent encampment popped up before police with shields and batons shoved into a line of protesters, arresting 33 people.

At the City College of New York, hundreds of students who were gathered on the lawn beneath the Harlem campus' famed gothic buildings erupted in cheers after a small contingent of police officers retreated from the scene. In one corner of the quad, a "security training" was held among students.

Police arrested one protester and tore down tents at the University of Connecticut Thursday, while demonstrators at Stanford University rallied on a day when newly admitted students visited the campus.

Students protesting the war are demanding schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies enabling the conflict. Some Jewish students say the protests have veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus.

USC announced the cancellation of the May 10 graduation ceremony a day after more than 90 protesters were arrested on campus. The university said it will still host dozens of commencement events, including all the traditional individual school commencement ceremonies.