CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (Diya TV) — A graduation speech at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has sparked intense controversy after the student speaker used her platform to call for divestment from Israel and criticize the university’s ties to the Israeli military.
During Thursday’s commencement ceremony, MIT graduating class president Megha Vemuri delivered a speech urging fellow alumni and students to advocate for Palestinian rights and to hold the university accountable for its affiliations. Her remarks, which included calling Israel “genocidal” and accusing the nation of attempting to “wipe Palestine off of the earth,” were met with boos, walkouts, and vocal objections from attendees, according to Fox News.
“You showed the world that MIT wants a free Palestine,” Vemuri said, praising MIT’s undergraduate body and graduate student union for voting last spring to sever ties with Israeli institutions. “You faced threats, intimidation, and suppression coming from all directions, especially your own university officials, but you prevailed.”
Vemuri went on to say that MIT was “complicit in the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people,” adding, “we carry with us the obligation to do everything we can to stop it.”
The speech drew a sharp and immediate response both in person and online. Some attendees shouted “shame” and walked out in protest, while others later criticized the university for allowing political activism to take center stage during what is traditionally a celebratory event.
Guy Zyskind, an MIT alumnus and Jewish father who received his Ph.D. at the ceremony, described the experience as distressing. Writing on X, he said “My 5-year-old twins, my 2-year-old, and my parents (children of Holocaust survivors) traveled halfway around the world to be there. My kids might not have understood every word, but they felt the fear and hostility. It was upsetting for us and deeply distasteful for everyone else who came to celebrate.”
Zyskind added that the remarks overshadowed what was supposed to be a moment of pride and unity, especially in light of recent events, including the murder of a Jewish-American couple in Washington, D.C., the previous week.
Other members of the MIT community echoed his sentiment. Eyal Yakoby, a Jewish MIT student, called the address “an embarrassment to our institution.” Meanwhile, graduate student Talia Khan criticized MIT President Sally Kornbluth for what she viewed as a failure to protect Jewish students. “Nearly two years of antisemitic hostility—and still, Jewish students get silence while bigotry gets a mic. Shameful,” Khan posted on X.
MIT management professor Retsef Levi also weighed in, saying that the administration’s inaction represents a broader failure of leadership.
The controversy follows months of tension on campuses nationwide, where protests over the Israel-Hamas conflict have reignited debates over free speech, academic neutrality, and campus safety. Last spring, MIT’s student body voted to cut ties with Israeli institutions, a move that sparked widespread debate across the academic community.
MIT has yet to release an official statement addressing the commencement speech or the surrounding controversy. Vemuri, for her part, stood by her remarks, encouraging graduates to “stand up for what is right.”
As elite institutions like MIT continue to grapple with political activism among students, Thursday’s events highlight the growing divide on how universities should balance free speech, political expression, and inclusivity during milestone moments.
