Who Is Megha Vemuri? Indian-Origin Student Banned from MIT Graduation Ceremony for Delivering Pro-Palestine Commencement Speech

International Business Times

4 days ago

Jewish students walked out of their graduation ceremony on Thursday after the commencement speaker at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology accused the prestigious institution of supporting efforts to wipe "Palestine from the face of the Earth."
Megha M. Vemuri, president of the Class of 2025, drew both boos and applause during her controversial commencement speech, in which she praised her fellow students for demonstrating against Israel right after Hamas carried out a deadly terrorist attack on the Jewish nation on October 7, 2023. One of the students, who was seen waving what appeared to be a Palestinian flag, got into a physical altercation with security as Vemuri continued her speech.
Sparking Controversy
"You have faced the obstacle of fear before, and you turned it into fuel to stand up for what is right — you showed the world that MIT wants a free Palestine," Vemuri told the crowd as some students stood up and waved the Palestinian flag, according to a video posted by MIT.
"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," Vemuri continued.
"You faced threats, intimidation and suppression coming from all directions, especially your own university officials. But you prevailed, because the MIT community that I know would never tolerate a genocide."
Vemuri went on with her speech, claiming that there are no universities left in the war-ravaged region of Gaza. Meanwhile, the split audience continued chanting in support of those leaving the ceremony and shouting, "Shame."
"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," Vemuri charged, as she encouraged anti-Israel activists to keep pressuring the university to cut all ties with the Jewish state to scattered applause from parts of the audience.
"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 ended her polarizing speech by accusing the university of being "directly complicit in the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people."
Not Impressing Everyone
Vemuri's controversial speech resulted in her being banned from participating in Friday's undergraduate ceremony, according to an MIT spokesperson who told Fox News Digital that the speech she gave differed from the version previously approved by university officials.
"MIT supports free expression but stands by its decision, which was in response to the individual deliberately and repeatedly misleading Commencement organizers and leading a protest from the stage, disrupting an important Institute ceremony," the university said in a statement.
MIT was one of many universities where, in the aftermath of the Gaza conflict last year, aggressive anti-Israel protesters prevented Jewish students from attending classes, confronted law enforcement, and gave inflammatory speeches.
An Israeli graduate told the outlet that every Jewish family — "not just the Israelis" — chose to leave the event, which was meant to be a happy occasion.
"All of our families came from far to see the ceremony and were extremely disappointed," the disheartened grad said.