The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) barred its 2025 class president from attending Friday’s undergraduate commencement ceremony after she delivered an unapproved pro-Palestinian speech during a university event the day before.
On Thursday, Megha Vemuri, the elected class president and a double major in computation and cognition and linguistics, spoke at MIT’s OneMIT Commencement Ceremony in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her speech, which was not pre-approved, denounced MIT’s research ties to the Israeli military and accused the university of complicity in “genocide” against the Palestinian people.
“MIT supports free expression but stands by its decision, which was in response to the individual deliberately and repeatedly misleading Commencement organisers and leading a protest from the stage, disrupting an important Institute ceremony,” MIT spokesperson Kimberly Allen said in a statement, as reported by NBC News.
According to the Boston Globe, citing US Department of Education data, MIT received about $2.8 million in grants, gifts, and contracts from Israeli entities between 2020 and 2024.
What did Vemuri say?
Wearing a Keffiyeh scarf, Vemuri’s four-minute speech praised student protests, highlighted the devastation in Gaza, and urged MIT to cut ties with Israeli institutions. “You showed the world that MIT wants a free Palestine,” she said.
Right now, while we prepare to graduate and move forward with our lives, there are no universities left in Gaza. 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.
Her address was met with cheers from some classmates, a few of whom raised Palestinian flags.
Referencing a student vote earlier this year calling on MIT to sever ties with Israel, Vemuri added:
You prevailed because the MIT community that I know would never tolerate a genocide.
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In a symbolic gesture, she urged graduates to turn their class rings—featuring the mascot Tim the Beaver—so the beaver faced outward.
This is a world that we will be entering with an immeasurable responsibility… to stop [MIT’s] complicity in the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.
University’s response
After the speech, MIT informed Vemuri she would not be permitted to attend the main graduation ceremony on Friday. However, she will still receive her diploma, which will be mailed to her, her father Sarat Vemuri told The New York Times.
In a statement, Vemuri said she was not disappointed about missing the ceremony.
I see no need for me to walk across the stage of an institution that is complicit in this genocide.
She criticised MIT’s disciplinary response as a “massive overstep” and said she had been punished “without merit or due process.”
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MIT President Sally Kornbluth, who spoke immediately after Vemuri at Thursday’s event, did not directly address the incident. “At MIT, we believe in freedom of expression. But today is about the graduates,” she told the audience, pausing briefly as some in the crowd chanted.
(With inputs from The New York Times, NBC News)