WATCH: MIT Class President Hijacks Commencement Speech "for Gaza"

A fiery commencement speech by MIT’s 2025 class president, Megha Vemuri has ignited a firestorm of controversy.

Vemuri, an Indian-American senior, used her platform as class president to deliver a scathing critique of Israel, accusing it of attempting to “wipe Palestine off the face of the earth” and alleging that MIT is complicit through its research ties with the IDF.

Wearing a red keffiyeh, a symbol of Palestinian solidarity, Vemuri claimed, “There are no universities left in Gaza,” and called for an arms embargo on Israel and for MIT to sever its military ties. She framed the traditional MIT ring-turning ceremony as a call to action, stating, “We carry with us the stamp of the MIT name, the same name that is directly complicit in the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people, and so we carry with us the obligation to do everything we can to stop it.”

Some students cheered and waved Palestinian flags, while others, including Jewish and Israeli attendees, walked out or chanted “shame.” The MIT Jewish Alumni Alliance condemned Vemuri’s remarks as “Hamas-inspired propaganda” that “hijacked” the ceremony, causing distress to Jewish graduates, including a PhD student from Israel whose children were upset by the speech.

Talia Khan, an MIT graduate student, criticized MIT President Sally Kornbluth for not directly addressing the speech, accusing the administration of failing to confront antisemitism.

MIT barred Vemuri from the May 30 undergraduate commencement, citing a violation of its “time, place, and manner” rules. Chancellor Melissa Nobles stated that Vemuri “deliberately misled” organizers by delivering a speech different from the one submitted. Vemuri called the ban an “overreach,” denying that her speech was a protest. During the May 30 ceremony, a small group of students interrupted Nobles’ speech to protest Vemuri’s exclusion, but the demonstration subsided after audience applause.

The MIT Coalition Against Apartheid condemned the university’s response, linking it to MIT’s funding from the Israeli Ministry of Defense for AI-assisted drone programs. Similar incidents have occurred at Harvard and NYU, where students were disciplined for unapproved and unwanted pro-Palestinian commencement speeches.