MIT’s undergraduate commencement was interrupted this morning by a small group of demonstrators chanting “Let Megha walk! Let Megha walk!”
The group was protesting the school’s decision to ban Megha Vemuri, the 2025 senior class president, from participating in the ceremony because she delivered a speech that was supportive of Palestinians in Gaza during Thursday afternoon’s main commencement. In the speech, she called on her peers to demand that MIT cut ties with Israel.
“You showed the world that MIT wants a free Palestine,” said Vemuri during her Thursday afternoon speech, referring to last year’s protest encampment that took over Kresge Lawn for nearly three weeks. “We are watching Israel try to wipe Palestine off the face of the Earth, and it’s a shame that MIT is a part of it.”
A spokesperson for MIT said in a statement that the speech Vemuri delivered was different than the speech she submitted to officials prior to the event.
MIT leadership was quick to shut down Friday’s interruption, which began during chancellor Melissa Nobles speech.
“Excuse me,” said Nobles. “I respect that you have a message to send, but this is not the time or the place. Today is about our graduates and their families.”
Nobles’ response was met with applause by some in the audience.
In a written statement, MIT leadership added that they stand by the punishment they issued to Vemuri.
“MIT supports free expression but stands by its decision, which was in response to the individual deliberately and repeatedly misleading Commencement organizers and leading a protest from the stage, disrupting an important Institute ceremony,” read the statement.
At the start of the school year in September, MIT issued new school rules surrounding when and where students can protest on MIT’s campus. School leadership has responded more strictly toward unsanctioned demonstrations this year, which was a departure from the prior school year when protestors camped out on campus.