At 10:14 a.m. yesterday, a group of approximately 16 Upper Valley residents processed around the Green during the 2026 commencement ceremony to protest Dartmouth’s speech policies, the name of the Black Family Visual Arts Center and Dartmouth’s granting of an honorary Doctor of Laws to Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression president Greg Lukianoff, among other issues.
The protestors, who remained verbally silent and dressed in all-black, carried bells and a gong as they walked. Many carried signs: “No more pretend dialogue,” one read. “Have your own dialogue with the Trustees.of.Dartmouth.College@dartmouth.edu,” another encouraged readers. “Say it: Dartmouth honors pedophile donors,” read a third, referencing the most recent of the three lawsuits accusing former trustee Leon Black ’73 — after whom BVAC is named — of sexual harassment, abuse or rape. In the referenced lawsuit, the plaintiff alleges that Black raped her in the townhouse of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein when she was 16-years-old in spring or summer 2002. Black has denied all allegations of wrongdoing. The other two lawsuits have been dismissed.
Protest participant and co-organizer Geoffrey Gardner said in an interview with The Dartmouth before the protest began that the group was composed of “neighbors who object to a number of” Dartmouth’s actions. In particular, he criticized Dartmouth for “promoting what they call ‘dialogue,’ which, from our point of view, is institutionally corralled speech.” Gardner and fellow protester Karen Bixler separately criticized the arrests of 89 individuals on May 1, 2024 at a pro-Palestinian protest as examples of, in Gardner’s words, “one of the many things” the College has done to not allow “protesting in favor of freedom for Palestine.”
Gardner also criticized Lukianoff for taking “a very, very harsh stance against transgender people.” Bixler said awarding Lukianoff with an honorary degree was “honoring a man who is openly transphobic.”
Members of the Class of 1976 — the first co-educational degree class at Dartmouth, which returned to campus this weekend to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their graduation — expressed support for the protestors’ actions, even as they said they did not necessarily agree with the protestors’ criticisms of the College.
“There has to be diversity of opinion: If everybody thought the same, this would be a very dangerous place in the world,” Michael Montgomery ’76 said in an interview with The Dartmouth. “Normally, there is no right answer, either. There’s shades … and it’s healthy that there’s a difference in point of views.”
Rick Zimmerman ’76 added that the protest “hasn’t been disruptive, so from my point of view, they’re fine.”
College spokesperson Jana Barnello wrote in a statement to The Dartmouth on Sunday that “free expression is a hallmark of Dartmouth and that was on display once again at Commencement today. Congratulations to all the graduates!”
Annabelle Zhang '27 is a reporter and editor from New Jersey. In the classroom, she studies Geography and Government modified with Philosophy and Economics. She enjoys creating recipes, solving puzzles and listening to music.
