Some of the students who on Sunday attended the graduation ceremony at Morehouse College, one of the country’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), turned their back on President Joe Biden as he delivered a commencement address.

The Associated Press reported that at least seven graduates and a faculty member sat with their backs turned as Biden spoke. A group of students even walked out as Biden received an honorary degree, according to The New York Times.

At least some of the graduates at the Georgia school appeared to be demonstrating in response to the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip as some of them were seen wearing a Palestinian flag or keffiyeh scarves around their shoulders or necks.

Valedictorian DeAngelo Jeremiah Fletcher, who spoke before Biden, said that it was his “stance as a Morehouse man — nay, as a human being — to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.”

Biden — confused — applauds as the speaker calls for an "immediate and a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza strip" pic.twitter.com/3eIj63QOrO

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 19, 2024

Biden, who clapped in response to Fletcher’s statement about Gaza, later used his address to intermix statements about the Israel-Hamas conflict with declarations about how he added black people to his administration and the courts.

“I support peaceful, non-violent protest. Your voices should be heard. And I promise you, I hear them,” Biden said, adding soon after, “It’s a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. That’s why I’ve called for an immediate ceasefire, to stop the fighting. Bring the hostages home.”

President Biden: “I support peaceful, non-violent protest. Your voices should be heard. And I promise you, I hear them…. It's a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. That's why I've called for an immediate ceasefire, to stop the fighting. Bring the hostages home." pic.twitter.com/3FKUikYE1E

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) May 19, 2024

Leading up to the ceremony on Sunday, faculty members at Morehouse College expressed concerns about “rumors” they were hearing about Biden’s commencement address as student protests over the Israel-Hamas war took place on university campuses across the country.

Kendrick Brown, the provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Morehouse, told staff in an email the college was extending “an opportunity for faculty with different perspectives on the selection of our Commencement speaker to ask questions and make comments.”

He added that students would also be able to “engage” with college President David Thomas while declaring, “Please know going into this conversation that the College does not plan to rescind its accepted invitation to President Biden.”

Polling in recent months indicates that more black voters, particularly among black men, are ditching Biden and said they plan to support former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election across several battleground states — including Georgia.

Harvard has reportedly blocked at least 12 seniors from graduating at its upcoming commencement celebration.

The university has taken action against dozens of students who were involved in a 20-day anti-Israel protest and encampment, according to The Harvard Crimson, the university’s student newspaper. At least 60 students received notices to appear in front of the Harvard College Administrative Board in connection with the demonstration that lasted nearly three weeks in Harvard Yard.

On Friday, the university suspended five students and placed 20 more on academic probation. 

“Harvard is not allowing me to graduate this semester for my participation in the encampment,” Suhaas Bhat, a senior and Rhodes Scholar, told students at the start of the Class of 2024 Senior Talent Show.

“I think it’s a good time to think about what it means to go to this University and what it means to have freedom of speech and what our moral obligations are,” Bhat said, presumably referring to Israel’s war on Hamas while referencing civilian deaths.

The number of civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip is notoriously difficult to track, and the most prevalent estimates are based on unreliable information from Hamas. Earlier this month, the United Nations reduced its estimate for the number of women and children killed in the conflict, a rough proxy for the number of civilians killed, significantly. U.N. officials reportedly switched its primary resource for death data from the Hamas-run Government Media Office to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

Last week, Harvard reinstated at least 22 students who were placed on involuntary leave as the board pursued its investigation into the Harvard Yard encampment. It is unclear how many student cases associated with the encampment are still outstanding.

Harvard University is “committed to applying all policies in a content-neutral manner and per existing regulations as outlined in college and university guidelines,” spokesman Jonathan Palumbo said in a statement, according to the Crimson.

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Harvard is one of numerous universities that have been rocked by anti-Israel protests since Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on October 7. The protests and demonstrations have been especially prevalent in recent weeks as universities readied for spring commencement ceremonies.

Harvard’s last president, Claudine Gay, left the role after a turbulent and short tenure marred by allegations of being soft on anti-Semitism. She apologized in December after she refused to say that calling for genocide against Jews violated Harvard’s rules. Gay resigned from her role after scrutiny revealed her academic accomplishments, which included numerous instances of alleged plagiarism.