Northern Virginia VCU student denied diploma after participating in pro-Palestinian protests

Two months after earning a bachelor s degree from Virginia Commonwealth University a -year-old Northern Virginia woman is having her diploma withheld for partaking in pro-Palestinian demonstrations Sereen Haddad is accused of violating the school s code of conduct by participating in pro-Palestinian demonstrations and school agents tell WTOP the diploma is on hold until it investigates her alleged conduct The Haddad family has deep ties to Gaza and her father cardiologist Dr Tariq Haddad disclosed at least extended family members and friends have died during the Israeli-Hamas war Haddad finished her classwork at VCU in three years and would ve earned a degree in psychology She intends to pursue a master s degree in psychology and eventually a PhD She did all the requirements in three years rather than four with a summa cum laude Tariq noted She wants to obtain a degree a PhD in psychology because over of the children in Gaza suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and childhood depression because of all these attacks over the past minimal years He stated his daughter s goal is to use her PhD to help children with war-related mental illness The dispute is also holding up her applications to graduate school because she does not officially have a bachelor s degree After participating in and organizing several peaceful campus protests Sereen was notified by the university this spring that she could attend the graduation ceremony but would not receive her diploma Sereen Haddad is accused of violating the school s code of conduct by participating in pro-Palestinian demonstrations and school authorities tell WTOP the diploma is on hold until it investigates her alleged conduct Courtesy Tariq Haddad Two days before her graduation she gets an emailed letter from the university saying you will be able to walk on their graduation However until this issue goes before administrative board you will not be receiving your degree ' he declared A disciplinary hearing was held last week and school officers are not giving any indication when they ll decide what to do or what time frame they are working on They re keeping her from having her degree because she was having a peaceful protest on campus of the killing of over of her own family members and of children he announced Tariq explained his daughter has the advocacy of students and the faculty She had a faculty member speak on her behalf at the hearing and there was a letter circulated among the VCU faculty and it was signed by several hundreds VCU faculty he reported They let her walk but they did not let her get her degree And two months later they still haven t given her her degree He announced he s reached out to Virginia state senators who ve contacted the university to tell them you re making a huge mistake here The family stated it is looking at its legal options and Tariq blames University President Dr Michael Rau for not standing up to the political pressure that is taking place not only at VCU but other universities over the heated issue of the war in Gaza He s keeping students from getting their degree for quite literally advocating for an end to the death of innocent civilians and children This is what he s holding these students degrees for And of program we know this is from political pressure Obviously I m not naive about that This is because he s getting pressure on him Tariq stated In a message to WTOP VCU mentioned students who held an unauthorized event on the campus were warned to disband but refused to leave the campus library s lawn Several students involved in the protests were seniors set to graduate on May Per Trainee Affairs standard procedures initially approved in when seniors and graduate students are involved in a manageable or alleged conduct violation they receive a letter giving them advance notice of the expected ramifications if they are exposed responsible the report read The message also addressed the hold on Sereen s diploma adding that until the candidate conduct process has been fully resolved specific students will not receive their diplomas Source