About 200 Stanford graduates rose from their seats and walked out on June 14 when Google CEO Sundar Pichai began a commencement address shadowed by Project Nimbus protests.
Families in the bleachers filmed the exodus as marshals guided protesters along roped corridors toward a lawn rally featuring speakers from student coalitions.
Pichai continued speaking to a diminished audience, emphasizing perseverance narratives drawn from his upbringing without referencing cloud contracts or military partnerships.
Organizers said the walkout targeted Google’s $1.2 billion Project Nimbus agreement with Israel, which critics link to surveillance workloads condemned in human rights reports.
University spokespeople said the ceremony remained safe and on schedule despite the largest commencement protest on campus in decades.
Stanford administrators had defended inviting Pichai as a alumni success story, arguing universities should engage executives even when corporate policies draw dissent.
Protest marshals guided walkout participants along designated paths to avoid blocking emergency exits as families continued photographing graduates who remained seated.
Google issued a brief statement emphasizing community investment programs without addressing Project Nimbus specifics, a contract also criticized by employee resource groups.
Graduation photographers adjusted angles to document both seated graduates and the visible empty rows left by protesting students.
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Sources:
https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-iran-war-live-updates-trump-says-peace-deal-to-be-signed-today-iran-denies-11633550