An Indian-origin student and class of 2025 president at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Megha Vemuri, was banned from attending her graduation ceremony after she used the commencement stage to voice support for Palestine and condemn the university’s ties with Israel’s defence and military industries.
According to reports, Vemuri was scheduled to serve as a marshal at the undergraduate commencement. However, on the morning of Friday, May 30, she received an email from MIT chancellor Melissa Nobles stating that she would not be allowed to attend the event and that she and her family were barred from campus for most of the day.
“Participation in Commencement activities is a privilege. You deliberately and repeatedly misled Commencement organisers. While we acknowledge your right to free expression, your decision to lead a protest from the stage, disrupting an important institute ceremony, was a violation of MIT’s time, place and manner rules for campus expression,” wrote Nobles.
Vemuri’s commencement speech, now widely shared on social media, began with praise for her classmates and their collective support for Palestine.
Wearing a keffiyeh, a scarf symbolising solidarity with Palestine, she said, “You showed the world that MIT wants a free Palestine. Last spring, MIT’s undergraduate body and graduate student union voted overwhelmingly to cut ties with the genocidal Israeli military, you called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, and you stood in solidarity with the pro-Palestine activists on campus. You faced threats, intimidation, and suppression coming from all directions, especially your university officials, but you prevailed because the MIT community that I know would never tolerate a genocide.”
She continued, “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 Palestine off the face of the earth, and it is a shame that MIT is a part of it.”
In closing, while inviting students to join in the tradition of turning the ring, Vemuri said, “The MIT name is directly complicit in the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people. So we carry with us the obligation to do everything we can, to stop it.”
While her speech received applause from some students and social media users, others criticised her for what they described as hijacking a ceremonial event meant to celebrate academic achievement.
ED Mathews, former United Nations spokesperson, expressed support for Vemuri on X, writing, “Proud of this young lady for being fearless to take a righteous stand at a time when such moral clarity and boldness are becoming rare. Wishing you a brilliant future.”
Another user commented, “The students are standing up for Palestine, yet again. Shame on everyone who’s silent.”
The MIT Coalition Against Apartheid also condemned the administration’s decision to exclude Vemuri from the ceremony. The student group stated, “This attack on Megha exposes the persistent attack on pro-Palestine voices and the mounting pressure on MIT to drop all military contracts with the Israeli Ministry of Defence (IMOD). MIT currently accepts IMOD funding for its AI-assisted killer drones program.”
Another account by the name Indian Americans wrote, “At MIT, the pro-Hamas commencement speaker this week was an Indian-American Hindu woman. Hindus are being brainwashed.”
