The student, Megha Vemuri, spoke at MIT’s OneMIT commencement in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Wearing a keffiyeh over her graduation gown, she praised student protests against the war in Gaza and condemned MIT’s ties to Israel.
“As scientists, engineers, academics and leaders, we have a commitment to support life, support aid efforts and call for an arms embargo and keep demanding now, as alumni, that MIT cuts the ties [to Israel]” Vemuri said during her speech.
The Boston Globe reported last year that between 2020 and 2024, MIT reported receiving $2.8m in grants, gifts, and contracts from Israeli entities, based on data from the US Department of Education. The Globe noted that the data did not clarify whether the funds came from academic, individual or public sources, or how they are spent.
“MIT supports free expression but stands by its decision, which was in response to the individual deliberately and repeatedly misleading Commencement scientists, engineers, academics and leaders, we have a commitment to support life, support aid efforts and call for an arms embargo and keep demanding now, as alumni, that MIT cuts the ties [to Israel]” Vemuri said during her speech.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) barred its 2025 class president from attending her graduation ceremony on Friday after she delivered a speech during a commencement event the day before condemning the war in Gaza and criticizing the university’s ties to Israel.
Vemuri did not respond to a request from the Guardian, but told CNN that after her speech on Thursday, she was informed by university officials that she was not allowed to attend Friday’s ceremony, and that she was barred from campus until the ceremony concluded.
Vemuri said that she was not disappointed about not getting to walk across the stage, and that she was grateful for her family’s support.
“I see no need for me to walk across the stage of an institution that is complicit in this genocide ”, Vemuri told CNN.
“I am, however, disappointed that MIT’s officials massively overstepped their roles to punish me without merit or due process, with no indication of any specific policy broken”, she added.
Source: The Guardian
