The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has banned Indian-American student Megha Vemuri from her graduation commencement ceremony after she delivered a pro-Palestine speech during an event on Thursday (May 29). Ms Vemuri, MIT's class of 2025 president, was scheduled to be the marshal at the ceremony, but university chancellor, Melissa Nobles, announced she could not attend the event.
Ms Noble also stated that Ms Vemuri and her family were banned from the college campus for most of the day.
“You deliberately and repeatedly misled Commencement organizers,” Ms Nobles wrote in an email to Ms Vemuri, as per the Boston Globe.
“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.”
What did she say?
Wearing a red keffiyeh, a scarf intended to show support for the Palestinian cause, Ms Vemuri slated Israel for its actions in Gaza. She also slammed the university for its ties to Israel and called on fellow graduates to take a stand.
“The Israeli occupation forces are the only foreign military that MIT has research ties with; this means that Israel's assault on the Palestinian people is not only aided and abetted by our country, but our school,” Ms Vemuri said.
“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.”
She praised students who had stood up in support of Palestine despite pressure from the top hierarchy at the university.
“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," she said.
Who is Megha Vemuri?
Born and raised in Alpharetta, Georgia, Ms Vemuri completed her high school at Alpharetta High School in Georgia and graduated in 2021. In the same year, Ms Vemuri enrolled at MIT where she recently completed her undergraduate degree in computer science, neuroscience, and linguistics while serving as the president of the graduating class.
She is also a part of Written Revolution, which is a MIT student group and provides a platform to revolutionary ideas. Before that she worked as a research intern with the UCT Neuroscience Institute in South Africa.
