Class of 2024 reflects on years marked by COVID-19, protests – St. Louis Post-Dispatch

LOS ANGELES On a recent afternoon, Grant Oh zigzagged across the University of Southern California campus as if he was conquering an obstacle course, coming up against police blockade after police blockade on his way to his apartment while officers arrested demonstrators protesting the Israel-Hamas war.

In many ways, the chaotic moment was the culmination of a college life that started amid the coronavirus pandemic and has been marked by continual upheaval in what has become a constant battle for normalcy. Oh already missed his prom and his high school graduation as COVID-19 surged in 2020. He started college with online classes. Now the 20-year-old will add another missed milestone to his life: USC has canceled its main commencement ceremony that was expected to be attended by 65,000 people.

A graduating senior takes photos under the University of Southern California mascot on campus Thursday in Los Angeles. The school has canceled its main graduation ceremony as protests against the Israel-Hamas war continued to intensify.

His only graduation ceremony was in middle school, and there were no caps and gowns.

"It's crazy because I remember starting freshman year with the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which came after senior year of high school when the Black Lives Matter protests were happening and COVID, and xenophobia," he said "It feels definitely surreal. It still shocks me that we live in a world that is so fired up and so willing to tear itself apart."

Oh, who is getting a degree in health promotion and disease prevention, added that his loss of a memorable moment pales in comparison to what is happening: "At the end of the day, people are dying."

College campuses have always been a hotbed for protests from the civil rights era to the Vietnam war to demonstrations over apartheid in South Africa. But students today also carry additional stresses from having lived through the isolation and fear from the pandemic, and the daily influence of social media that amplifies the world's wrongs like never before, experts say.

Pro-Israeli demonstrators gather near a pro-Palestinian encampment on the UCLA campus Thursday in Los Angeles.

It's not just about missed milestones. Study after study shows Generation Z suffers from much higher rates of anxiety and depression than Millennials, said Jean Twenge, a psychologist and professor at San Diego State University, who wrote a book called "Generations." She attributes much of that to the fact that negativity spreads faster and wider on social media than positive posts.

"Gen Z, they tend to be much more pessimistic than Millennials," she said. "The question going forward is do they take this pessimism and turn it into concrete action and change, or dothey turn it into annihilation and chaos?"

Protesters have pitched tents on campuses from Harvard and MIT to Stanford and the University of Texas, Austin, raising tensions as many schools prepare for spring commencements. Hundreds of students have been arrested across the country. Inspired by demonstrations at Columbia University, students at more than a dozen U.S. colleges have formed pro-Palestinian encampments and pledged to stay put until their demands are met.

The campus will be closed for the semester at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, which has been negotiating with students who have been barricaded inside a campus building since Monday, rebuffing an attempt by the police to clear them out.

USC announced Thursday that it would be calling off its main graduation ceremony after protests erupted over not only the Israel-Hamas war but the school's decision earlier this month to call off the commencement speech by its valedictorian Asna Tabassum, who expressed support for Palestinians. Officials cited security concerns.

"By trying to silence Asna, it made everything way worse," Oh said, adding that he hopes there will be no violence on graduation day May 10 when smaller ceremonies will be held by different departments.

A recent graduate wears a garment with their graduation year Thursday on the University of Southern California campus in Los Angeles.

Maurielle McGarvey graduated from high school in 2019 so was able to have a ceremony but then she took a gap year when many universities held classes only online. McGarvey, who is getting a degree in screenwriting with a minor in gender and social justice studies at USC, called the cancellations "heartbreaking," and said the situation has been grossly mishandled by the university. She said police with batons came at her yelling as she held a banner while she and fellow demonstrators said a Jewish prayer.

"It's definitely been like an overall diminished experience and to take away like the last sort of like typical thing that this class was allowed after having so many weird restrictions, so many customs and traditions changed," she said. "It's such a bummer."

She said the email by the university announcing the cancellation particularly stung with its link to photos of past graduates in gowns tossing up their caps and cheering. "That's just insult to injury," she said.

Students at other universities were equally glum.

Graduating seniors take photos around the Tommy Trojan statue on the University of Southern California campus on Thursday in Los Angeles. The university canceled its main graduation ceremony.

"Our grade is cursed," said Abbie Barkan of Atlanta, 21, who is graduating from the University of Texas in two weeks with a journalism degree and who was among a group of Jewish students waving flags and chanting at a counter-protest Thursday near a pro-Palestinian demonstration on campus.

University of Minnesota senior Sarah Dawley, who participated in pro-Palestinian protests, is grateful graduation plans have not changed at her school. But she said the past weeks have left her with a mix of emotions. She's been dismayed to watch colleges call in police.

But she said she also feels hope after having gone through the pandemic and become part of a community that stands up for what they believe in.

"I think a lot of people are going to go on to do cool things because after all this, we care a lot," she said.

A University of Southern California protester is detained by USC Department of Public Safety officers during a pro-Palestinian occupation at the campus' Alumni Park on Wednesday, April 24, 2024 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

Tents erected at the pro-Palestinian demonstration encampment at Columbia University in New York, on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

University of Texas police officers arrest a man at a pro-Palestinian protest on campus, Wednesday April 24, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

Demonstrators chant at a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

Texas state troopers in riot gear try to break up a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

A row of Palestinian flags are seen on the fence at the pro-Palestinians demonstration encampment at Columbia University in New York on Wednesday April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

State troopers try to break up a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas Wednesday April 24, 2024, in Austin, Texas. Student protests over the Israel-Hamas war have popped up on an increasing number of college campuses following last week's arrest of more than 100 demonstrators at Columbia University. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

A demonstrator is restrained by police at a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (Ricardo B. Brazziell/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

State troopers on horses push back protesters during a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas, Wednesday April 24, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

A Georgia State Patrol officer detains a protester on the campus of Emory University during a pro-Palestinian demonstration Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Georgia State Patrol officers detain a protester on the campus of Emory University during an pro-Palestinian demonstration Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Authorities detain a protester on the campus of Emory University during a pro-Palestinian demonstration, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Protesters are cuffed after being detained on the campus of Emory University during a pro-Palestinian demonstration Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

A police officer detains a protester on the campus of Emory Univeristy during an pro-Palestinian demonstration, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

A makeshift camp supporting the Palestinians cause is staged on the UCLA campus, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Student protestors erected approximately 20 tents on Parrish Beach by Clothier Hall at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pa. on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (Monica Herndon/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)

A University of Southern California protester is detained by USC Department of Public Safety officers during a pro-Palestinian occupation at the campus' Alumni Park on Wednesday, April 24, 2024 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

A University of Southern California protester is detained by USC Department of Public Safety officers during a pro-Palestinian occupation at the campus' Alumni Park on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

University of Southern California protesters fight with University Public Safety officers as they try to remove tents at the campus' Alumni Park during a pro-Palestinian occupation on Wednesday, April 24, 2024 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

University of Southern California protesters carry a tent around Alumni Park on the University of Southern California to keep security from removing it during a pro-Palestinian occupation on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

University of Southern California protesters carry a tents around Alumni Park on the University of Southern California to keep security from removing them during a pro-Palestinian occupation on Wednesday, April 24, 2024 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

University of Southern California protesters carry a tents around Alumni Park on the campus of the University of Southern California to keep security from removing them during a pro-Palestinian occupation on Wednesday, April 24, 2024 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

University of Southern California protester raises an anti war sign in Alumni Park on the campus of the University of Southern California during a pro-Palestinian occupation on Wednesday, April 24, 2024 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

A University of Southern California protester, right, confronts a University Public Safety officer at the campus' Alumni Park during a pro-Palestinian occupation on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

University of Southern California protesters push and shove University Public Safety officers as tempers get heated during a pro-Palestinian occupation on the University of Southern California campus Wednesday, April 24, 2024 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

Texas state troopers in riot gear try to break up a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

Student protesters hold up sheets as others pray at the pro-Palestinian demonstration encampment at Columbia University in New York on Wednesday April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

Signs are displayed on tents at the pro-Palestinian demonstration encampment at Columbia University in New York on Wednesday April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

People sit outside tents at the pro-Palestinian demonstration encampment at Columbia University in New York on Wednesday April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

A Palestinian flag is displayed at the pro-Palestinian demonstration encampment at Columbia University in New York on Wednesday April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

State troopers try to break up a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in Austin. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

Pro-Palestinian protesters face off with mounted state troopers at the University of Texas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in Austin. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

Students participate in a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in Austin. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

A pro-Palestinian protester walks past pro-Israel protesters at the University of Texas Wednesday April 24, 2024, in Austin. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

A pro-Palestinian protester faces off with state troopers at the University of Texas Wednesday April 24, 2024, in Austin. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

Cally, a former UT student, faces off with a mounted state trooper at a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in Austin. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

A woman raises a fist during a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in Austin. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

A woman is arrested at a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in Austin. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

A woman is arrested at a pro-Palestinan protest at the University of Texas, Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

A woman is arrested at a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas, Wednesday April 24, 2024, in Austin. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

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Class of 2024 reflects on years marked by COVID-19, protests - St. Louis Post-Dispatch