Princeton Commencement Traditions Continue -- In Orange & Black With a Little Red Thrown In

Princeton, NJ – If you happen to be one of the nearly 440,000 followers of media personality and author Oli London on X (formerly known as Twitter), you now know that on Saturday, May 25, “Shameful Princeton students rushed to stop a MEMORIAL DAY parade after spotting American flags coming towards them.”

Posting on his X account (@OliLondonTV) the author of “Gender Madness: One Man's Devastating Struggle with Woke Ideology and His Battle to Protect Children,” wrote that “Hundreds of activists charged onto the road and sat down while shouting “Free Palestine” at the parade marchers who were honoring fallen service members and veterans.”

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE FREE TAPINTO.NET NEWSLETTER

That’s what London’s followers would know from reading his posts. The trouble is that it’s not true.

If you happen to be a reader of the Daily Princetonian , you would have read another account, and discovered that the brief disruption did not occur during the town’s Memorial Parade down Nassau Street on Saturday, May 25, but rather later in the day at the University’s annual P-Rade. As the Princetonian reported,

“Approximately 30 pro-Palestine protesters stopped the P-Rade for about two minutes, rushing into the middle of Elm Drive and sitting in the road with linked arms. The group — including current students and alumni in their class jackets — was almost immediately handed written arrest warnings from University officials. The protesters then cleared the road and began chanting at the P-Rade from the sides of the road, holding signs and Palestinian flags. No arrests were made.”

Ultimately both the parade and protests occurred simultaneously, with the parade of thousands of alumni and their families, led by the Old Guard alumni (more than 65 years out of college) and the 25 ^th year Class of 1999, overwhelming the protests. “Chants of ‘Free, free Palestine’ and ’99, chug a beer’ overlapped,” the Princetonian reported.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE TAPINTO APP FOR MORE LOCAL NEWS. AVAILABLE IN THE APPLE STORE AND THE GOOGLE PLAY STORE .

There was also a brief interruption of University President Chris Eisgruber’s open meeting with alumni on Saturday morning at Alexander Hall. “Protests erupted at remarks by University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 at his annual address to alumni in Richardson Auditorium, called ‘A Conversation with President Eisgruber.’ Approximately 25 protesters raised their hands, which were painted in red. After six minutes of demonstrations, they exited the auditorium and continued to protest outside. The session continued as normal, proceeding with a Q&A,” the Prince reported .

The Princeton Alumni Weekly also went into breaking news mode, contributing some additional context to the events:

“Pro-Palestinian groups escalated their protesting on Saturday by painting graffiti, dying Princeton’s Fountain of Freedom red, and interrupting President Christopher Eisgruber ’83’s annual Q&A with alumni by chanting, shouting, and holding up hands covered in red gloves and red paint. They also made their presence known at the P-rade Saturday afternoon, chanting and carrying signs.

“The words ‘pretty town bloody gown’ appeared on Robertson Hall Saturday morning, the letters painted across the white columns. On social media, a student group that headed up the recent campus protest called the graffiti ‘a reminder to keep eyes on Palestine.’

“At 10:30 a.m. a worker appeared to be pressure washing the graffiti off the building; by 1:30 p.m. the letters were covered with white poster boards. Hoses placed in the fountain were draining out the red water.

“The move was one way pro-Palestinian protesters seem to be trying to keep the spotlight during Reunions, following their three-week encampment that ended May 15. On social media Friday, the student group — Princeton Israeli Apartheid Divest (PIAD) — wrote: ‘This weekend, act, disrupt, and escalate on your own terms — all tactics welcome.’

“On Saturday morning, President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 spoke at an annual forum sponsored by the Alumni Association, held in Alexander Hall’s Richardson Auditorium. About 20 minutes in, local resident Joline Konson stood up and began shouting. Some alumni shouted “shame” at Konson, and two Public Safety officers talked to Konson for about a minute while Konson continued to shout about Princeton’s complicity in genocide.

“As a video began to play on the stage as part of Eisgruber’s presentation, about 50 to 60 people in the audience silently held up their red hands while still sitting. When Eisgruber resumed speaking, Konson stood up and began shouting again. Public Safety officers then led Konson from the room.”

After the protesters were finally led from the auditorium, Eisgruber noted, according to the Alumni Weekly, that “protest is important. It’s an important part of what goes on on a college campus as people move through this stage of their lives. We want students to be engaged around issues of justice and that’s really important.

“So some of this represents things that I think are part of what we need to do at Princeton and the kind of engagement that we have.

“But on the other hand, if people are taking over buildings, if they are vandalizing property, or if they are making it impossible for us to have a discussion, then at that point we need to take action. Because under those circumstances we cannot have the discussions that are important.”

End of year ceremonies continue on Monday, May 27, with Class Day celebrated at 10:30 a.m. at its traditional site, Cannon Green, which until recently had been the site of the pro-Palestinian demonstrators on campus. Sam Waterston, the Emmy-award winning actor known for his role on the NBC series “Law & Order,” will address the Princeton seniors.

Graduation ceremonies will be Tuesday morning, May 28, at what now may be the new traditional site, Princeton Stadium. For almost 100 years, with a few exceptions, Princeton’s commencement ceremonies have been held on the front lawn of Nassau Hall. In 2021, responding to the Covid circumstances, the event was moved to Princeton Stadium – plenty of room for social distancing on the football field. That has now become the new tradition – an appropriate reaction to the expanding number of students in the graduating classes.

The student procession will begin Tuesday at approximately 9:40 a.m. The ceremony runs from 10 to about 11:30 a.m. Commencement does not typically include an outside speaker – that happens on Class Day. Princeton also awards honorary degrees at the ceremony and one of the prerequisites of receiving one is being on hand to accept it. So this year, along with some protesters, you can also expect to see some luminaries on hand, as well.

Visit Princeton University’s YouTube account for live-streams and recordings of Commencement-related events.

To receive once-a-day updates on stories of community interest, click here to subscribe to TAPinto Princeton’s free e-mail newsletter.

Have a comment or story suggestion? E-mail rrein@tapinto.net .

For more local news, visit TAPinto.net