Brooklyn College’s class of 2026 will no longer walk the stage during commencement due to scheduling conflicts, causing outrage across campus.

An email was sent to Brooklyn College seniors less than two months before commencement, informing them that due to the required end time at Barclays Center, the 4,000 students in the graduating class would not have enough time to walk the stage for their May 28 commencement ceremony.

This has caused many seniors to take action on social media. 

Students are circulating a petition, and a protest was held on April 30 against the last-minute switch.

“It feels like a slap in the face, especially when you’re working so hard towards the finish line,” Brooklyn College senior Yolie Ashley told The Ticker. Ashley said the news was unexpected. 

“We were shocked because I felt like the school had a year to prepare,” she said. “I feel like if we had this information earlier on, we wouldn’t have bought the cap and gowns.”

Students have also expressed their anger online. After The Brooklyn College Vanguard, Brooklyn College’s newspaper, posted the news on social media, hundreds of commenters expressed their disappointment. Many students also expressed their anger over the long speeches they will endure and nonrefundable family tickets.

 “I’m an older, returning, first generation student; my whole family was coming to watch me be the first in my family to walk and get a degree,” commenter an.gelicamay wrote on Instagram. “This is pathetic.”

Ashley, the organizer of the petition, has the form linked in her Instagram bio and has a team behind her with plans to save the ceremony. 

Currently, the petition has over 4,000 signatures with a mix of graduating seniors and previous graduates signing and leaving comments on Instagram.

“I am a 1994 graduate of the College, and did not get to walk; it made the experience very mechanical and impersonal,” commenter Dr. Chris wrote.

Ashley has also created a list of other venues where the school can host commencement, two of which are the fields at the Aviator Sports and Events Center and the Brooklyn Cyclones arena, which would provide the opportunity for students to walk.

With coverage from media outlets such as CBS News and News12, Ashley believes more pressure will be put on the school to make this change.

“Being that this is all over social media, they’re gonna feel it,” she said. 

Some Brooklyn College students feel that the reason students may no longer walk on stage is due to a video circulating on Instagram, which shows Israeli and Palestinian flags being snatched by security before going on stage.

Ashley, however, does not agree with the rumors spreading online.

As the ceremony gets closer, Brooklyn College students continue the fight to regain the right to walk on stage.