College class of 2024: Shaped by crisis, seeking community
| New York; Boston; and Bakersfield, Calif.
The class of 2024 began its college years as virtual students, arriving on once-vibrant campuses muffled by COVID-19. Most had missed out on high school graduations and proms. Now they鈥檙e graduating from college during another season of turmoil, this time caused by protests about the war in Gaza that have swept colleges and roiled national politics.聽
As these seniors begin to pack up, many are seeking to make sense of their college experience amid fractious national political debates and rapid technological change.聽They have seen community fall away 鈥� and have learned something about building it back. They are celebrating their graduation, but with a mix of pensiveness, anxiety, and cautious anticipation.
鈥淚t just felt like it went super fast,鈥� says Wesley Mitchell, a senior film and TV major at New York University in Manhattan, who left his last class on Monday to enjoy the sunshine in nearby Washington Square Park. The first year was rough, he says. And now he鈥檚 graduating during a time of rancor over the Israel-Hamas war.聽
Why We Wrote This
From pandemic to protests, these college seniors have faced unusual challenges. Many long for community 鈥� and have learned something about building it.
鈥淭here鈥檚 pro-Palestinian people on one side and then pro-Israel people on the other, and they鈥檙e just, you know, not talking,鈥� says Mr. Mitchell. 鈥淵eah, I totally get it. I feel like everyone kind of wants a community, but no one can come to terms on the same set of agreements.鈥�
Still, Mr. Mitchell says he feels upbeat about graduating, given that his cohort of 2024 graduates has weathered so much. He reflects on the sense of liberation that came with an end to pandemic policies such as mandatory face masks, and how students came together again. He sees the same yearning for community in many protesters, even if he doesn鈥檛 share their politics or passions.聽
鈥淪tudents started college so isolated because of safety precautions,鈥� says Suzanne Rivera, president of Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, which had that ended peacefully. 鈥淢any students who are at college today missed out on things like learning how to drive, or going to parties. ... They didn鈥檛 get to socialize or come of age in the traditional way.鈥澛�
Like Dr. Rivera, university administrators nationwide are trying to restore normalcy to their campuses ahead of graduation ceremonies that could be disrupted by protesters. Columbia University in New York, Emory University in Atlanta, and the University of Southern California have decided to scale down or relocate commencements. At other universities, protest encampments occupy spaces usually given over to graduation events.聽
Seeking community and a cause
This specific cohort has experienced聽college life bookended by a pandemic and war in the Middle East.聽While outside political activists have been detained by police on some campuses, most protesters are current or former students.聽
For some, the camps have become such as distributing donated food and holding teach-ins and religious rites. And for a generation that feels disengaged from institutional culture, a 鈥淕aza solidarity encampment鈥� offers an alternative structure.聽
For others, though, the spread of the pro-Palestinian camps and the invective they often direct at pro-Israel members of the community is another reason to distrust institutions like universities that profess to be inclusive. For months, college presidents have faced criticism from some students, parents, and donors over antisemitism on campuses. Complaints about Islamophobia and intimidation of pro-Palestinian voices have received less attention.聽
Jason, a business senior at NYU, says the university has failed to provide a safe environment for Jewish students. This senior, who declined to give his full name, wore a kippa on his head as he watched a pro-Palestinian protest unfold in Washington Square.聽
鈥淭hey weren鈥檛 able to provide for students first with COVID. And then once again, they鈥檙e failing us as well, albeit in a smaller demographic, but one that鈥檚 still important as well to the school,鈥� he says, referring to Jewish students at NYU.聽
At her high school in central California, Patricia Martinez was politically engaged. But as an applied-math major at California State University, Bakersfield, she has focused on studying in order to graduate early. Her campus, she notes, has been relatively quiet.
A first-generation college student, she says her peers seem to tune out political news.
鈥淚 do believe that a lot of people choose to turn away. Maybe it鈥檚 just easier for them to either, I wouldn鈥檛 say be misinformed, but maybe not be informed at all in the first place. But I do think we should all at least know a little bit of something,鈥� she says as she hands over a painting she has sold 鈥� one of her side gigs 鈥� to a friend.聽
After she spent her last two years of high school and her first year of college in pandemic-related isolation, Ms. Martinez鈥檚 strongest memories from this past year are of the friends she鈥檚 made.
鈥淚 think I actually got better at engaging with people,鈥� she says. 鈥淭here weren鈥檛 so many barriers anymore.鈥�
Cal State Bakersfield serves a largely working-class student body 鈥撀爐wo-thirds are the first in their families to attend college 鈥撀燼nd the only protests this school year were demanding better pay. 鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of nice to be at a school that doesn鈥檛 have all this crazy stuff going on,鈥� says Magie Uribe, a psychology major who will graduate next week.聽
When she鈥檚 not in class, Ms. Uribe coaches high school cheerleading and teaches children鈥檚 gymnastics and dance. This past year, she says, has been about trying to get by.聽
鈥淚鈥檓 always working with the younger generation, who are so innocent,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of nice, like an escape.鈥�
Technology鈥檚 impact on community
Even before the pandemic emptied classrooms in 2020, students were showing rising levels of mental and emotional distress that, in some respects, forms the backdrop to the campus activism that erupted after Hamas attacked Israel last October. 聽聽
Technology has fostered virtual interactions that can eclipse face-to-face encounters. Students spend more time on phones and laptops and ; participation in clubs and sports has decreased. Some of these shifts in behavior preceded the pandemic but were accelerated by virtual teaching and limits on student gatherings.聽As Zoom meetings replaced meet-ups, students adjusted to an atomized campus.聽
In the 2014-15 academic year, 20% of students reported a diagnosis of clinical depression, , an annual web-based survey of students at more than 450 colleges and universities. By 2018-19, that share had risen to 36%. Last year (2022-23), it was 41%, which was down 3 points from the previous survey. Around 1 in 7 students said they had considered suicide in the past year. Anxiety and eating disorders have been rising.聽
Dr. Rivera at Macalester has seen how these challenges impact students and teachers, but she says that during this school year it feels like a corner has been turned.聽
鈥淭his year looked to me like the full college experience,鈥� she says. Macalester will graduate 509 seniors Saturday on its quad. 鈥淲e hope it will be a source of some healing for the grief that everyone felt four years ago when they missed out on graduation.鈥� 聽
Students are hoping so, too. On Thursday, Kristen Simpson and Hannah Freeman took advantage of a break in Boston鈥檚 sporadic rain showers to take photos outside in their caps and gowns. Ms. Simpson will graduate from Berklee College on Saturday, followed by Ms. Freeman, a theater major at Emerson College, on Sunday.聽
Even with family members coming from Colorado, North Carolina, and Oregon to Ms. Freeman鈥檚 graduation, the moment feels bittersweet.聽
鈥淓merson had a huge protest , so I鈥檓 curious to see how that affects the ceremony,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he state of the world is terrifying, and it鈥檚 weird to feel like I鈥檓 just going to walk across the stage to celebrate when there鈥檚 so much going on.鈥�
For Ms. Simpson, a guitar performance major, Berklee鈥檚 Saturday ceremony is an important marker on her life journey and one she relishes.聽
鈥淚 graduated high school during COVID, so I didn鈥檛 get a graduation,鈥� she says. 鈥淪o this is my big celebration. There鈥檚 closure this time, which is good.鈥�
