MIT class president barred from graduation after pro-Palestine speech
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology's 2025 class president was barred from attending her graduation ceremony on Friday after delivering a pro-Palestinian speech that criticized the university's ties to Israel during a commencement event the day prior.
What she said
Megha Vemuri took the stage at Thursday's OneMIT commencement ceremony wearing a keffiyeh over her graduation gown. During the Indian-origin graduate's four-minute speech, she praised students who protested the war in Gaza and condemned MIT's financial ties to Israel. 'Right now, while we prepare to graduate and move forward with our lives, there are no universities left in Gaza,' Vemuri said. 'We are watching Israel try to wipe out Palestine off the face of the Earth, and it is a shame that MIT is a part of it.'
Vemuri specifically criticized MIT's research connections, stating that 'Israel is the only foreign military with which MIT has active research ties.' MIT reportedly received $2.8 million in grants, gifts and contracts from Israeli entities between 2020 and 2024. She concluded her speech by invoking MIT's tradition of turning class rings outward, saying graduates 'carry with us the stamp of the MIT name, the same name that is directly complicit in the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.'
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The aftermath
MIT President Sally Kornbluth attempted to calm the crowd immediately after Vemuri's speech, saying, 'At MIT, we believe in freedom of expression. But today is about the graduates.' University officials later informed Vemuri she could not attend Friday's undergraduate ceremony and was barred from campus until it concluded. MIT said the speech differed from what was submitted in advance, with the university claiming Vemuri chose to 'deliberately and repeatedly' mislead Commencement organizers and lead a protest from the stage.
The big picture
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Vemuri's ban reflects growing tensions at universities where students have transformed graduation ceremonies into platforms for Gaza-related protests. These events unfold as universities navigate pressure from the Trump administration, which has been cutting federal funding for research and launching investigations into DEI programs. In an X post, House Speaker Mike Johnson called Vemuri's speech 'Ignorant. Hateful. Morally bankrupt,' urging parents to 'avoid MIT & the Ivy League at all costs.'
Despite the controversy, Vemuri will receive her degree by mail and expressed no regrets, telling CNN she sees 'no need for me to walk across the stage of an institution that is complicit in this genocide.' The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) condemned MIT's decision, with Massachusetts executive director Tahirah Amatul-Wadud saying, 'MIT must respect academic freedom and respect the voices of its students, not punish and intimidate those who speak out against genocide and in support of Palestinian humanity.'
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'With this new edict on IHRA, you're going to have more outside groups looking at what professors are teaching, what's in the syllabus, filing complaints and applying public pressure to get people fired,' he said. 'That will undoubtedly harm the university.' Beyond adopting the IHRA definition, Columbia has also agreed to place its Middle East studies department under new supervision, overhaul its rules for protests and coordinate antisemitism training with groups such as the Anti-Defamation League. Last week, the university suspended or expelled nearly 80 students who participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Kenneth Marcus, chair of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, said Columbia's actions were an overdue step to protect Jewish students from harassment. He dismissed faculty concerns about the IHRA definition, which he said would 'provide clarity, transparency and standardization' to the university's effort to root out antisemitism. 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