Virginia Commonwealth University has agreed to grant a diploma to Palestinian American student Sereen Haddad after withholding it until now. Haddad earned a four-year degree in psychology at VCU in just three years, earning the highest honors along the way. She was denied her diploma at her graduation this year after campus officials cited her participation in a peaceful memorial commemorating violent police arrests at a student encampment for Palestine in 2024. Sereen is the daughter of Dr. Tariq Haddad, a cardiologist who grew up in Gaza; they have lost more than 200 members of their extended family in Israel’s nearly two-year-long, U.S.-backed assault. Sereen Haddad spoke to Democracy Now! on Tuesday just after learning she would receive her diploma, following a monthslong appeal to the VCU Student Conduct Board.

Sereen Haddad: “One thing I want to make absolutely clear is that this was not VCU choosing to do the right thing or them waking up and realizing that they made an error. This was the result of pressure on a case that they could not defend. It was the result of truth prevailing, and they were left with no choice because the truth was always on our side. I cannot separate this small victory from the reality that at this very same moment millions of Palestinians are being starved in Gaza intentionally, systematically and with the support of the very systems that tried to silence me. And the fact that I had to fight for my own diploma, something that I rightfully earned, is a testament to the exact same systems that are upholding and enabling genocide.”

Click here to see our joint interview with Sereen Haddad and her father, Dr. Tariq Haddad.