‘Repression is part of the movement:’ VCU alumna receives degree after university withheld it over pro-Palestinian protest

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Two months after walking across the graduation stage, Virginia Commonwealth University alumna and pro-Palestinian activist Sereen Haddad has received her bachelor’s degree in psychology.

The university withheld degrees from Haddad and several other students who participated in a pro-Palestinian gathering on April 29 at VCU’s Cabell Library lawn.

School officials said the demonstration was considered an “unauthorized event” and therefore violated university policy.

Haddad said she wasn’t intimidated when she learned her diploma was being held back. “My first thought is that we’re going to fight this, I wasn’t afraid at all, I wasn’t scared, because repression comes with a movement and I understand that,” she said.

The April gathering happened on the one-year anniversary of a protest where demonstrators clashed with police while calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Haddad, who said she has lost more than 150 family members there since October 2023, described the cause as deeply personal.

“As someone who has witnessed her family be bombed for 20 years since I was born, it’s just such a horrible thing to witness and something that is so deeply personal for me,” she said.

During the protest, Haddad said faculty and VCU police gave conflicting instructions about whether students could remain on the library lawn. She recalled officers warning that even sitting on blankets could lead to trespassing arrests.

University leaders previously told 8News that students were given “multiple warnings over a three-hour period” by student affairs staff, security personnel and campus police that the demonstration violated policy. Protesters were told to move to the Park Plaza Amphitheater instead.

In the weeks following the event, several students learned their degrees would be withheld until the student conduct process was complete.

Haddad says after hearings and the completion of an ethics course, the Student Conduct Board found her not responsible. She was the last of three students to receive her diploma.

“I am so privileged to even have a degree up for debate, to be able to use my voice,” Haddad said. “But I think that’s everyone’s duty — if you have a voice, you need to use it for those who are being silenced. To be silent is to be complicit. Do not be complicit.”

Haddad says her activism will continue beyond graduation, “there are so many different ways to be involved, and my journey definitely does not stop here. I think this helped me get started, and my journey isn’t going to stop until not only Palestine is free, but everyone is free.”

A VCU spokesperson told 8News that federal privacy laws prevent the university from discussing the conduct process for a specific student.