LOS ANGELES — The end of encampments at some American college campuses this spring did not mark the end of pro-Palestinian protests at Harvard and UCLA.

On Thursday, hundreds attending the annual graduation ceremony at Harvard College staged a walkout to protest the disqualification of 13 students involved in earlier protests. At UCLA, administrators and Los Angeles police faced the return of pro-Palestinian protesters to the heart of the campus.

On Wednesday, Harvard announced that one of its two governing boards had overruled faculty members who had voted to re-invite the 13 student protesters who were excluded from commencement. The exclusion set off a walkout shortly before 11 a.m. on Thursday, with participants chanting "Let them walk" and other slogans for about 10 minutes, as seen in video footage from the event.

Interim President Alan M. Garber spoke at the commencement and addressed the action, saying, "As our ceremony proceeds, some among us may choose to take the liberty of expressing themselves to draw attention to events unfolding in the wider world. It is their right to do so." Garber observed a moment of silence for "sympathy and empathy."

Some protesters were under the impression that Harvard would allow participants to graduate under an agreement between Garber and the Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine Coalition, NBC Boston reported. A Harvard spokesperson later said “several hundred” people participated in the walkout.

Protesters at colleges across the U.S. and in other countries had set up encampments this spring to decry civilian deaths and displacement in Gaza during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and to call for schools to divest from financial support of Israel. Harvard's encampment was dismantled voluntarily, with the university agreeing to meet with protesters to discuss disclosure and divestment.

Harvard stated on Wednesday that it planned to confer 1,539 degrees to Harvard College students and would fast-track degrees for the 13 excluded students if they mount successful appeals. “We understand that the inability to graduate is consequential for students and their families,” the university said. In addition to the 13 disqualified students, five others were suspended, and more than 20 face probation, according to NBC Boston.

Harvard student Margaret Mano commented on the situation, saying the exclusion clouded what should be a joyous occasion. “It is bittersweet. People in my house, my friends, they can’t graduate with me,” she told NBC Boston.

On the West Coast, Los Angeles police were placed on high readiness—on a citywide tactical alert that authorizes overtime to ensure full force on duty—after protesters returned to the UCLA campus in Westwood. Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered at Kerckhoff Patio before dozens heeded a call to "take over" nearby Dodd Hall. Police in riot gear were stationed nearby, and a police cruiser’s tire appeared to have been slashed.

By mid-afternoon, a Palestinian flag was displayed from an upstairs window at Dodd Hall. Outside, it appeared students could leave the building, but multiple news outlets, including NBC News, were not allowed inside.

A UCLA statement, attributed to two of its top leaders, said the university will not tolerate an encampment this time. “Demonstrators have been informed that if they do not disperse, they will face arrest and possible disciplinary action, as well as an order to stay away from campus for 7 days,” the statement said.

On April 30, a mob attacked pro-Palestinian protesters at UCLA for a few hours before police intervened. Authorities broke up the weeklong encampment and arrested more than 200 people two days later. Inaction by campus and Los Angeles police during the first hours of the April 30 clash was the subject of multiple investigations, and UCLA's chief of police, John Thomas, has been reassigned pending the outcome of a campus inquiry.

Chancellor Gene Block, one of three university leaders who spoke about the campus uprisings to the House Education and Workforce Committee on Thursday, expressed regret over the delayed response to the April encampment. “We should have been prepared to immediately remove the encampment,” Block said. Regarding Thursday’s protest, he noted, “There is no encampment, and we have no demonstrations that are problematic.”