Harvard grad delivers message on unity as brawl breaks out behind her: 'Irony wrote itself'

Hindustan Times

2 days ago

In a moment that felt almost unreal, an interview with a Harvard graduate on compassion and unity took a surreal turn when a physical altercation erupted just behind her mid-sentence.
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Yurong 'Luanna' Jiang, a 25-year-old Chinese graduate who delivered the valedictory address at Harvard, was speaking with The Associated Press when two older men began fighting in the background — ironically, as she spoke about empathy, moral imagination, and human connection.
Jiang's words carried a powerful message, now layered with unexpected irony.
'The message itself, if I have to put it into one sentence, will be humanity rises and falls as one,' she said during the interview. 'We are living in a very difficult time. There's a lot of divisions in terms of ideas, ethnicities, identities. This is a time where we can use a little bit more moral imagination and imagine ourselves being connected with one another.'
Completely unaware of the disruption behind her, Jiang continued sharing her reflections as the camera captured the scene: two men in a shoving match, one eventually knocked to the ground before both casually walked away — leaving the internet both amused and baffled.
Watch the clip here:
The short clip from the interview, which appeared to be filmed at an open-air restaurant, was later posted on X by an account named 'Shanghai Panda' with the caption:
'During an interview with the 25-year-old Chinese student who was Harvard's valedictorian, two old American men were fighting behind her — it was like some kind of metaphor. You cannot make satirical sitcoms in the US these days because real life can look like this.'
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The video quickly went viral, prompting many comments.
One user commented that it 'irony wrote itself,' while another called it 'a perfect metaphor for modern discourse.' Others chimed in calling it 'peak American theatre,' 'a social experiment gone live,' and 'too symbolic to be real.' One user simply said, 'This is the sitcom,' while another joked, 'Give this scene an Emmy.'