Latest news with #CeciliaCulver
Washington Post
7 days ago
- General
- Washington Post
7 readers grade this year's commencement speeches
Regarding Matt Bai's May 25 Sunday Opinion column, 'Graduates speak their minds. Universities freak out.': Bai is wrong about Cecilia Culver's commencement speech at George Washington University. This is not a First Amendment issue. No one disputes that 'higher education exists to challenge our preconceptions' or that Culver had a First Amendment right to say what she wanted. Rather, she veered from her approved speech when, clearly, there was and is an appropriate time and place for her to express her position on a matter she apparently feels so deeply about.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
George Washington University student banned after pro-Palestinian graduation speech
A graduation speech at George Washington University has resulted in the graduate being banned from the campus after she used the platform to criticize the university's ties to Israel and express support for Palestinians. During Saturday's commencement for the Columbian College of Arts & Sciences, part of GWU in Washington, DC, graduating senior Cecilia Culver delivered remarks to the graduating class of nearly 750. Culver condemned the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza, criticized GWU's connections to Israel, and urged the audience to withhold donations from the college and push for financial transparency, as well as for the college to divest from Israeli-linked companies. 'I am ashamed to know my tuition [fee] is being used to fund this genocide,' Culver said from the stage. 'I call upon the class of 2025 to withhold donations and continue advocating for disclosure and divestment.' University officials later said Culver had not followed her pre-approved remarks. They later announced she would be barred from campus and university-sponsored events. 'The speaker's conduct during Saturday's Columbian College of Arts and Sciences celebration event was inappropriate and dishonest: the speaker submitted and recited in rehearsal very different remarks than those she delivered at the ceremony,' the school said in a statement. 'The speaker has been barred from all GW's campuses and sponsored events elsewhere.' GWU also issued an apology, saying the speech had disrupted what was meant to be a celebratory occasion. The incident has since gone viral, with one video of the speech gaining more than 1 million views. Many have praised Culver for taking a stand on behalf of Palestinians, but others have criticized her for 'politicizing' a graduation ceremony. At the event, many graduates loudly applauded and cheered for Culver, with several giving her a standing ovation. Associate dean Kavita Daiya also acknowledged her speech, saying the college supports diverse perspectives. Culver was also receiving a distinguished scholar award at the ceremony. Culver said in an interview with The GW Hatchet that 'there was just never any point where I was not going to say something'.
The Guardian
21-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
George Washington University student banned after pro-Palestinian graduation speech
A graduation speech at George Washington University has resulted in the graduate being banned from the campus after she used the platform to criticize the university's ties to Israel and express support for Palestinians. During Saturday's commencement for the Columbian College of Arts & Sciences, part of GWU in Washington, DC, graduating senior Cecilia Culver delivered remarks to the graduating class of nearly 750. Culver condemned the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza, criticized GWU's connections to Israel, and urged the audience to withhold donations from the college and push for financial transparency, as well as for the college to divest from Israeli-linked companies. 'I am ashamed to know my tuition [fee] is being used to fund this genocide,' Culver said from the stage. 'I call upon the class of 2025 to withhold donations and continue advocating for disclosure and divestment.' University officials later said Culver had not followed her pre-approved remarks. They later announced she would be barred from campus and university-sponsored events. 'The speaker's conduct during Saturday's Columbian College of Arts and Sciences celebration event was inappropriate and dishonest: the speaker submitted and recited in rehearsal very different remarks than those she delivered at the ceremony,' the school said in a statement. 'The speaker has been barred from all GW's campuses and sponsored events elsewhere.' GWU also issued an apology, saying the speech had disrupted what was meant to be a celebratory occasion. The incident has since gone viral, with one video of the speech gaining more than 1 million views. Many have praised Culver for taking a stand on behalf of Palestinians, but others have criticized her for 'politicizing' a graduation ceremony. Sign up to Headlines US Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion At the event, many graduates loudly applauded and cheered for Culver, with several giving her a standing ovation. Associate dean Kavita Daiya also acknowledged her speech, saying the college supports diverse perspectives. Culver was also receiving a distinguished scholar award at the ceremony. Culver said in an interview with The GW Hatchet that 'there was just never any point where I was not going to say something'.
Washington Post
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
GWU bans graduate from campus over Israel divestment call at commencement
As Cecilia Culver addressed the crowd during her George Washington University graduation ceremony on Saturday, her hands shook the paper she was holding onstage. She spoke of the Palestinians killed in Gaza and the school's relationship with Israel and with the students who protested the war over the last year and a half.
Forbes
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
As Colleges Tamp Down Gaza Protests, Commencement Remains A Flash Point
President Donald Trump speaks at the University of Alabama commencement ceremony on May 1, 2025. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. During her commencement speech at the George Washington University College of Arts and Sciences on Saturday, graduating senior Cecilia Culver condemned the ongoing war in Gaza and reiterated students' calls for the Washington, D.C., private university to divest from Israel. She didn't mince words. 'The horrors unfolding across the world may be easy to ignore for those lacking a moral backbone,' she told the audience to raucous applause. 'I am ashamed to know my tuition is being used to fund genocide,' Culver added, referring to students' efforts to push the university to divest from investments in Israel. She encouraged her fellow graduates to withhold any future donations to the university until the board has moved to divest. GW quickly issued an apology, saying Culver's remarks were 'materially different' from those she had submitted in advance and that the university is investigating whether she had violated the student code of conduct. According to GW's student newspaper, some students also brought signs to the ceremony, despite a change in rules before last year's graduation that had barred banners. On Sunday, GWU's university-wide commencement was disrupted when more than 100 students walked out in protest against the war in Gaza. For the second year in a row, some students have used their graduation ceremonies as a platform to protest against Israel's conduct of the war. But this spring, the stakes for schools and students are notably higher. An off-script graduation speech now brings with it heightened financial and political risk. Commencement caps a semester of unprecedented political and economic pressure on colleges—especially the largest and richest schools. President Donald Trump has been quick to voice his disapproval of colleges that have failed to bring down the hammer on pro-Palestinian protests, and has withheld billions of federal funds from Harvard, Columbia and other schools, ostensibly because they haven't done enough to contain anti-semitism on campus. The Trump Administration is also seeking to deport foreign students for participating in those protests, or otherwise expressing pro-Palestinian views. Meanwhile, the Republican-controlled House is moving to dramatically raise the tax on endowment income of the wealthiest private universities, and particularly on those with large enrollments of foreign students. New York University is facing backlash online for withholding a diploma from senior Logan Rozos, who, during his commencement speech at the NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study, abandoned his approved remarks to condemn what he described as an ongoing genocide in Gaza. 'I want to say that 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 past 18 months,' Rozos told the audience. Some students stood and clapped. 'I do not wish to speak only to my own politics today, but to speak for all people of conscience, all people who feel the moral injury of this atrocity. And I want to say that I condemn this genocide and complicity in this genocide,' he said. NYU, one of the schools already under scrutiny from the Trump administration for failing to curb alleged anti-semitism on campus, quickly denounced Rozos's speech and withheld his diploma while it pursued disciplinary action. 'NYU strongly denounces the choice by a student at the Gallatin School's graduation today … to misuse his role as student speaker to express his personal and one-sided political views,' spokesperson John Beckman wrote in a statement. 'NYU is deeply sorry that the audience was subjected to these remarks and that this moment was stolen by someone who abused a privilege that was conferred upon him.' Colleges across the U.S. are seeing students take similar actions and facing criticism for their graduation speaker invitations. Last week, novelist Salman Rushdie pulled out of commencement at Claremont McKenna College in California following backlash from the Claremont College Muslim Student Association over his criticism of pro-Palestinian protests. The college didn't give a specific reason for the cancellation. 'This decision was his alone and completely beyond our control,' president Hiram Chodosh wrote in a statement. 'We remain steadfast in our commitment to Sir Salman's visit to CMC and have extended an open invitation to him to speak on our campus in the future.' Taking Rushdie's place is Richard Heinzl, CEO of My Next Health Inc. and a founder of Doctors Without Borders. In New Jersey, a state lawmaker urged Rutgers University-Newark to reconsider inviting actor Ramy Youssef to speak at the May 22 commencement ceremony, arguing in a letter that Youssef's support for Palestine and a cease-fire could be 'alienating and isolating' to Jewish students. University administrators declined, and Youssef's speech will continue as planned. At the Rutgers-New Brunswick ceremony Sunday, six students walked out, chanting 'free Palestine.' Meanwhile, Trump and his allies have attracted their own commencement controversies. Trump will speak at the United States Military Academy graduation ceremony on May 24. In a speech to University of Alabama graduates on May 1, he clunkily weaved in comments on tariffs, attacks on transgender people, immigration issues, and his opinion that the 2020 election was 'rigged.' Audience members, some clad in MAGA caps, were largely supportive of Trump. But at a nearby park in Tuscaloosa, one thousand people, including many students, gathered in protest. Former Texas Congressman Beto O'Rourke, former Alabama Senator Doug Jones and Alabama Democratic Senate candidate Kyle Sweetser spoke to the crowd. Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins spoke to graduates at Piedmont University in Georgia during their commencement on May 9. He stayed away from politics in his remarks, referencing Trump only once, but his appearance still drew criticism from some students and alumni. 'I'm sure in a room this size, there are some that will disagree with me, there are some that will agree with me, and there are some who really don't care who I am, and that's fine,' Collins told the audience. 'I want to know more about you; maybe why we disagree.' Kristi Noem, Trump's Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, spoke at Dakota State University commencement on May 10, where she also received an honorary degree. University officials had invited Noem to speak while she was still governor of South Dakota. The audience was largely supportive of Noem, but outside the university fieldhouse, a group of students and community members chanted and held signs with lines like 'Where's my free degree?' and 'No Deportation Without Due Process.'
