Dozens of students walked out of Duke University’s graduation ceremony in protest of commencement speaker Jerry Seinfeld.
As the comedian was introduced, video shows students carried flags and chanted ‘free Palestine‘ as they marched out of Wallace Wade Stadium on Sunday.
A flyer distributed on campus said, ‘When you see students walking out, follow them,’ reported WRAL.
Seinfeld visited Israel and has vocally supported it since Oct. 7 when militant group Hamas killed 1,200 people and abducted 252 others, even as Israel’s military operations since have killed more than 35,000 Palestinians.
Other graduates shouted ‘Jerry! Jerry!’ as the actor received an honorary degree, and Seinfeld delivered his speech without major interruptions.
BREAKING: DUKE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS WALK OUT OF GRADUATION AS JERRY SEINFIELD’S SPEECH IS ANNOUNCED pic.twitter.com/1taNZyREun
— Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman) May 12, 2024
The comedian and his wife Jessica serve as national chairs of Duke’s Parents Committee are the parents of a Duke alumna and a current Duke student.
During his speech, Seinfeld said his three real keys to life are hard work, paying attention and falling in love.
‘Whatever you’re doing, I don’t care if it’s your job, your hobby, a relationship, getting a reservation at M Sushi,’ he said.
‘Make an effort. Just pure, stupid, no-real-idea-what-I’m-doing-here effort. Effort always yields a positive value, even if the outcome of the effort is absolute failure of the desired result. This is a rule of life. Just swing the bat and pray is not a bad approach to a lot of things.’
‘Every chance you get, fall in love with your coffee. Your sneakers. Your Blue Zone parking space. I’ve had a lot of fun in life falling in love with stupid, meaningless physical objects,’ Seinfeld said.
‘I have truly spent my life focusing on the smallest things imaginable, completely oblivious to all the big issues of living.’