During the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) commencement ceremony for the Class of 2025, Indian-American student and class president Megha Vemuri delivered a provocative speech advocating for Palestine and condemning the university's research connections to the Israeli military.
Wearing a red keffiyeh—a symbol of Palestinian solidarity—Vemuri addressed an audience of graduates, faculty, and family members, asserting, "You showed the world that MIT wants a free Palestine." Her remarks highlighted the ongoing conflict in Gaza and called out MIT for its involvement through institutional research collaborations.
Vemuri underscored the moral dilemma facing the university, stating, "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." She acknowledged the challenges student activists encounter within academia, emphasizing the fear and uncertainty pervasive on campuses nationwide amid the Gaza war.
She noted that both MIT's undergraduate community and its graduate student union recently voted overwhelmingly to sever ties with the Israeli military. Despite facing threats and suppression—sometimes from university authorities—students persisted in their stance. "Because the MIT community that I know would never tolerate a genocide," she said.
Highlighting the devastating impact of the conflict on education in Gaza, Vemuri remarked, "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." She concluded by urging graduates to symbolically turn their MIT class rings outward as a commitment to confront and oppose what she described as the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.
