Stanford, UC Santa Cruz students graduate this weekend after divisive quarter

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KGO) -- Stanford and UC Santa Cruz students are graduating this weekend -- and some are closing out quite a contentious quarter.

For weeks and months, we saw universities divided as pro-Palestinian encampments went up.

Just last week, over a dozen Stanford students and alumni were arrested for barricading themselves inside the university president's office.

Parts of the campus were vandalized.

RELATED: Stanford students arrested for barricading in president's office, allegedly leaving 'vile' graffiti

In May, UC Santa Cruz students set up their encampment. A few weeks later 80 pro-Palestinian demonstrators were arrested at UC Santa Cruz.

At the end of May, graduate workers and teaching assistants went on strike, leaving some undergraduate students unsure what the rest of their school year would look like.

A judge put a halt to the strike just last week.

On Wednesday, some UCSC executives announced they would not be attending commencement ceremonies that start Friday.

MORE: Police arrest 80 pro-Palestinian protesters at UC Santa Cruz, school says

The announcement said in part:

Several campus events over the past weeks that we were attending or expected to attend were targeted for disruption....The celebrations of commencement should not be overshadowed or upstaged by those who want to make a statement to campus leadership who are present. ....We do not want our presence at commencement to distract from families and friends recognizing and celebrating your accomplishment.

We reached out to Stanford regarding its commencement ceremonies but have not heard back.