Bad news for universities: for all their attempts to repress the movement for Palestine on campus, students are still protesting Israel’s genocide.
At several commencement ceremonies, speakers have denounced the atrocities and called out their universities’ complicity. On May 14, New York University graduate Logan Rozos said from the podium, “The only thing that is appropriate to say in this time and to a group this large is a recognition of the atrocities currently happening in Palestine.” He added, “The genocide currently occurring is supported politically and militarily by the United States, is paid for by our tax dollars, and has been livestreamed to our phones for the last 18 months.”
A few days later, Cecilia Culver of George Washington University, in Washington, D.C., went further in her speech, saying, “I am ashamed to know my tuition is being used to fund this genocide. … I call upon the class of 2025 to withhold donations and continue advocating for disclosure and divestment.”
Universities are trying to respond, denouncing the students and swiftly punishing them. NYU is withholding Rozos’s diploma, claiming he “abused” his speaking privileges to express “personal and one-sided political views.” Culver has been banned from GWU, whose officials are calling her behavior “inappropriate and dishonest.”
Columbia University, a focal point of last year’s campus encampments, also saw commencement protests. Demonstrators rallied outside the university gates, and some burned or tore up their diplomas. At the ceremony, Acting President Claire Shipman faced loud boos and chants of “Free Mahmoud!” in reference to Columbia graduate Mahmoud Khalil, who has been in detention for more than 70 days over his pro-Palestine activism.
Reawakening the Movement amid a Genocidal Crescendo
These students’ actions — and universities’ crackdowns — come at a time when Israel’s genocide is reaching a bloody crescendo. The Zionist state has intensified its attacks on Gaza as part of Operation Gideon’s Chariots, and has blocked almost all humanitarian aid since early March. The United Nations warns that up to 14,000 babies could die imminently without aid.
Israeli politicians, meanwhile, are revealing their intentions. Netanyahu has emphasized that Israel aims to seize control of the entire Gaza Strip. His far-right ally, finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, declared, “Gaza will be entirely destroyed,” and Palestinians will be expected to leave “in great numbers.” In short, genocide and ethnic cleansing — a policy the Zionist state is also escalating in the West Bank.
Opposition to Israel, however, continues to grow. The climate on college campuses may not be as intense as it was during the peak of the spring 2024 encampments, but these commencement protests indicate that the student movement for Palestine remains strong, influencing young people who are aware of the Zionist state’s genocide, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid. And it’s not just students: opposition to Israel is growing among U.S. adults, and last week saw significant international protests for Nakba Day.
Amid the intensified genocide against Gazans and ongoing crackdowns on students, it’s essential that we continue to mobilize for a free Palestine. This includes supporting brave graduates like Rozos and Culver, urging universities to lift their punitive measures, drop charges against other students for their pro-Palestine activism, and divest entirely from Israel.
We must also broaden the movement to end the genocide and ethnic cleansing in Palestine. This requires collaboration that extends beyond campuses. The student and labor movements need to unite under independent, working-class politics, mobilizing in workplaces, campuses, and the streets for a free Palestine — and to chip away at U.S. imperialism.
