This post was updated June 30 at 8:02 p.m.

The College of Letters and Science held its annual commencement ceremonies at Pauley Pavilion on June 14.

Three commencement ceremonies for graduates in the College took place at 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.

For the first time since assuming the role in 2007, outgoing Chancellor Gene Block – who has faced scrutiny for the UCLA administration’s handling of pro-Palestine demonstrations – was noticeably absent from the stage at the College’s commencement. Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Darnell Hunt – who will succeed Block in an interim role Aug. 1 – and University of Miami President and UCLA Chancellor-designate Julio Frenk also did not have a visible role in the ceremony.

Chief of College Commencement Melissa Nessman began each ceremony with a welcome to the graduates and their families. She also requested that disruptions not occur during the ceremony.

“Universities have been venues for demonstrations in recent weeks over the tragic circumstances in the Middle East,” Nessman said while addressing the audience during the day’s first ceremony. “While we recognize and value freedom of expression at UCLA, we don’t want demonstrations to prevent the celebration of our graduates.”

While her remarks were met with applause at the 11 a.m. ceremony, the same words were met with boos at the 3 p.m. ceremony.

Each ceremony also featured a performance of the national anthem by a graduating student. During the 3 p.m. ceremony, some students held up their hands, wearing red gloves, as Danielle Groode, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sociology, performed.

Following Groode’s performance, students in the audience waved keffiyehs – Arab headscarves that have historically been a symbol of the Palestinian liberation movement – with at least one holding up a Palestinian flag. A student in the front row of the audience waved an Israeli flag in the direction of the students waving keffiyehs.

“The ceremony was interrupted incessantly to recentre Palestine,” said Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA in an Instagram post June 15.

Multiple students addressed the graduates at each ceremony. Laura De Beer, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business economics, addressed students at the College’s 11 a.m. commencement ceremony and encouraged students to learn from setbacks.

“Failure is not a reflection of your worth but an opportunity for growth,” she said in her speech. “Embrace it, learn from it and emerge stronger than before.”

Sean Astin, an actor and UCLA alumnus, was the keynote speaker at the commencement ceremonies. Astin, who is a member of SAG-AFTRA and helped to negotiate an end to the union’s strike last year, criticized the UCLA administration in his speech.

“This UC system and the UCLA administration has been too far out of touch with our students,” he said in his speech. “Too far out of touch with our faculty, our academics, our researchers, our unions and our neighborhood.”

Astin added that he was proud to see activism on campus and believed the “trauma of this moment” would be followed by healing.

Dean of Undergraduate Education Adriana Galván also spoke at each ceremony. Before introducing the other deans in the College during the day’s second ceremony, some graduating students, again standing and holding up their hands in red gloves, interrupted the ceremony with chants of “free, free Palestine.”

“Please sit down,” Galván responded.

Each ceremony concluded with a quartet of students from the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music performing “Hail to the Hills of Westwood,” the university’s alma mater song. Before students exited, the Bruin Marching Band played “The Bruin Warriors” as graduating students participated in an eight-clap.

Vice Chancellor for Strategic Communications Mary Osako called the 11 a.m. commencement “poignant and simply beautiful” in a statement at its conclusion.

“The absence of any disruptions illustrates our students’ unified desire to mark this moment as a sole celebration of their success,” she said.

UCLA Media Relations did not respond to requests for comment on Astin’s speech or disruptions during the 3 p.m. ceremony.