RVA Magazine: “Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is facing scrutiny, both locally and internationally, after withholding the diploma of psychology graduate Sereen Haddad, a 20-year-old Palestinian-American student who completed her degree in three years with highest honors. The university says the decision is tied to an ongoing student conduct review related to her participation in a memorial gathering on April 29, 2025, held to mark the one-year anniversary of a 2024 campus protest that ended in multiple arrests.
The 2025 memorial event commemorated the police removal of a pro-Palestinian student encampment that was established and dismantled on April 29, 2024, outside Cabell Library. That earlier demonstration resulted in over a dozen arrests and drew criticism from civil liberties groups. According to multiple accounts, the 2025 gathering was peaceful and did not result in arrests.”