TEHRAN (Iran News) –Videos circulating on social media show a trickle of students, many waving kaffiyehs and Palestinian flags, getting up from their chairs as Stanford President Richard Saller delivered his speech to the graduating class, according to LATimes.

Within minutes, hundreds could be seen streaming out of the stadium.

The walkout was planned by a pro-Palestinian student group, which had encouraged students to leave the formal ceremony and instead go to a “People’s Commencement” at a different location.

“We invite graduates, friends, and family to walk out of commencement…to show support for divestment and honor Palestine this graduation weekend,” the group wrote on Instagram.

Standing on a makeshift podium, a speaker at the alternative ceremony called the walkout a “final act of protest.”

“You have made history with a record-breaking sit-in and a beautiful encampment,” the speaker told the relocated crowd. “Today, you are graduating with a head held high.”

The university did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Stanford has been rocked by protests this year led by students furious over mounting casualties of innocent Palestinians.

This month, campus police arrested 13 pro-Palestinian protesters, made up of students and alumni, who had barricaded themselves inside the president’s office.

The university said at the time that the students involved were suspended and that seniors were told they could not graduate.

Last year, protesters set up a large encampment on campus, which became the longest sit-in in Stanford history.

Administrators banned camping in February “out of concern for the health and safety of our students.”

Activists set up another encampment at the same plaza in April.

TEHRAN (Iran News) –Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger has faced growing criticism after media reports revealed that her ministry initiated a legal review last month to examine the open letter released by these scholars and the possibility of withdrawing funding for their studies, according to TRT.

“Academics in Germany are experiencing an unprecedented attack on their fundamental rights, on the 75th anniversary of the Basic Law,” the scholars stated on Friday, highlighting that the ministry’s recent actions make Stark-Watzinger’s position untenable.

“The withdrawal of funding ad personam on the basis of political statements made by researchers is contrary to the Basic Law: teaching and research are free. The internal order to examine such political sanctions is a sign of constitutional ignorance and political abuse of power,” the scholars continued.

“It illustrates an increasing rift between decision-makers in the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and those who support the academic system through their research and teaching. Through its intimidating effect alone, the Minister’s actions risk permanently damaging the hard-won right of academic freedom against political and state interference,” they added.

On May 8, more than 300 academics from Berlin universities expressed their support for pro-Palestinian protest camps on the campus of the Free University of Berlin and defended the students’ right to demonstrate.

“Regardless of whether we agree with the specific demands of the protest camp, we stand up for our students, and defend their right to peaceful protest, which also includes the occupation of university grounds,” they stated.

The academics accused the university’s management of subjecting the demonstrators to “police violence.”

Media reports have revealed that a few days after this open letter, Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger’s office initiated a legal review to examine the possibility of sanctions under civil service law and criminal law against these academics, including the option to revoke funding for their studies.