‘It’s absolutely absurd’: VCU withholds degrees of several students over Pro-Palestinian gathering

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Several Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) students will participate in commencement ceremonies but with degrees currently withheld pending an investigation.

"I think these policy violations shouldn't have happened in the first place, they shouldn't have been given out to us," said Sereen Haddad, a senior at VCU.

According to VCU officials, the matter pertains to a gathering on the lawn of the Cabell Library on April 29, 2025 where about 40 students were gathered.

"I think it's absolutely absurd that they're withholding the degree at all," she said.

Man arrested at pro-Palestinian gathering at VCU on anniversary of protest turned violent

"We were doing it together. We were being with each other as the last day of classes or studying with finals. and the university decided to criminalize that," Haddad said.

VCU police told 8News students were warned multiple times by various school officials that events were not permitted on the lawn and students could have relocated to the Park Plaza Amphitheater but many chose not to.

A student was arrested during this gathering.

The gathering marked one year since a pro-Palestinian protest where protesters clashed with police on Monday, April 19, 2024.

LAST YEAR: Pro-Palestinian protests on VCU campus

"A delay in my diploma is far more privileged than people in Palestine right now," said Selma Ait-Bella, a senior at VCU. "Being a student and advocating for Palestine, like it is part of the process. repression is something that we we expect most of the time."

Students told 8News conduct meetings may take a couple weeks or more as they do not have a definitive timeline of when the investigation will be completed.

"It's very unfortunate that VCU in an of themselves — they use diversity as a buzzword and as a PR tool, but when it comes to actually standing up for those students that make the campus diverse, they fall short every single time."

8News reached out to VCU officials on the matter pertaining to the degrees withheld and received this statement:

Several students involved in the protests were seniors set to graduate on Saturday. Per Student Affairs’ standard procedures, initially approved in 2013, when seniors and graduate students are involved in a possible or alleged conduct violation, they receive a letter giving them advance notice of the potential ramifications if they are found responsible.

The exact information they received about graduation was:

Please note that while you are eligible to participate in commencement activities, your degree will not be officially conferred until the pending student conduct process has been fully resolved. The conferral of a degree is contingent upon the completion of all academic and institutional requirements, including the resolution of any outstanding disciplinary matters. 

As a reminder, on April 29 a group of about 40 people held an unauthorized event on the lawn outside of Cabell Library. Despite multiple warnings over a three-hour period from Student Affairs, security personnel and VCU Police that VCU policy did not authorize events on the lawn -- but would have permitted the event to relocate to the Park Plaza Amphitheater -- many of those assembled refused to relocate to the Park Plaza Amphitheater, only a few hundred feet away.

Mike Porter
VCU Public Relations