Bryn Mawr College will relocate commencement ceremonies due to pro-Palestinian encampment

Bryn Mawr College traditionally has held its commencement ceremonies on Merion Green, a large outdoor space in the center of campus.

But this year, a pro-Palestinian encampment remains in place on the site, so the women’s college announced Monday that it would relocate the ceremonies.

The graduate ceremony on Friday and the undergraduate ceremony on Saturday will both be held at Applebee Field next to Cambrian Row on the western end of campus, Bryn Mawr president Kim Cassidy wrote in an email to the campus community. The senior awards ceremony on Thursday also will be held at the field, instead of on Merion Green, she said.

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“Commencement is a time-honored tradition, allowing graduates and their loved ones the opportunity to celebrate the achievement of earning a Bryn Mawr College degree,” Cassidy wrote. “I believe that not observing these ceremonies would harm our campus community and the families and friends of graduates who are excitedly anticipating these events.”

Graduates will receive more details Tuesday on new safety protocols that will be in place for the commencement, Cassidy wrote. A Bryn Mawr spokesperson said no additional details were available on the safety protocols.

At Bryn Mawr, students erected the encampment on April 27, amid a flurry of similar activity at some colleges across the nation. There are about 25 tents on the site, the spokesperson said.

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At the University of Pennsylvania, police dismantled an encampment on Friday and arrested 33 participants, nine of them Penn students. That 35-tent encampment had been in place since April 27. An encampment at Rutgers University-New Brunswick was quietly taken down on May 2 after protesters reached an agreement with the administration.

In addition to Bryn Mawr, an encampment also remains at Swarthmore College.

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Swarthmore has not announced any changes to its commencement, scheduled for May 26. Commencement was held last year at the same place where the encampment is currently erected — on Parrish Beach by Clothier Hall. And the plan is to hold it there again, a Swarthmore spokesperson said.

Penn also plans to hold its commencement at Franklin Field next Monday, with some added security, the university said last week. Its encampment had been located on the College Green.