Srinagar, June 2: Indian-American student Megha Vemuri of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), was banned from attending a graduation ceremony on Friday after she delivered a pro-Palestinian speech during a commencement event on May 29. Vemuri was designated to be the marshal at the graduation ceremony, however, the university announced that she and her family were barred from attending the event.
Her speech, which was not pre-approved, denounced MIT’s research ties with Israel and accused the university of being complicit in the “genocide” of the Palestinian people. School officials confirmed that they told Ms. Vemuri that she was prohibited from attending the undergraduate ceremony.
MIT leadership said that they stand by the punishment they issued to Ms. Vemuri. “MIT supports free expression but stands by its decision, which was in response to the individual deliberately and repeatedly misleading Commencement organisers and leading a protest from the stage,” a school spokesperson said in a statement.
In response to MIT’s decision to bar her from the graduation ceremony, Vemuri said she was not disappointed about missing the event. “I see no need for me to walk across the stage of an institution that is complicit in this genocide,” she wrote. However, she expressed disappointment with the university’s handling of the situation, saying school officials “massively overstepped their roles to punish me without merit or due process.”
She was born and raised in Alpharetta, Georgia, Vemuri graduated from Alpharetta High School in 2021. She studied computer science, cognition, and linguistics at MIT, recently completing her degree while serving as the class president.
