21-05-2025
GWU bans graduate from campus over Israel divestment call at commencement
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'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 university said in a statement.
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Culver did not respond to a request for comment. But she told the GW Hatchet, 'There was just never any point where I was not going to say something,' Culver said.
In recent days, the speech has led to an outpouring of support and outrage - including one video that's been viewed 1.3 million times - from some who see Culver as courageous for using her position as a student graduation speaker to speak up for Palestinians and others who see the remarks ruining or distracting from a graduation ceremony to share her political opinions and bash Israel.
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The speech and public response is the latest in protests and other tensions on college campuses since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and ensuing war that have tested the limits of free speech on campuses and lead to threats from the Trump administration to withhold federal funding from schools it says allow antisemitism. GWU, the site of multiple demonstrations in the two school years, is among the campuses that have drawn the administration's attention in recent months and in April, banned the GWU chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine for a year.
This also marks the second year where the Israel-Gaza war has impacted graduation ceremonies. At New York University, for example, officials said they were withholding the diploma of Logan Rozos, who used his commencement speech to condemn Israel's war in Gaza and who they said 'lied about the speech he was going to deliver.' At Virginia Commonwealth University, three students had their diplomas withheld over a protest just before graduation.
In New York City Wednesday, the head of Columbia University gave a commencement speech acknowledging the absence of student activist Mahmoud Khalil, who was due to receive his diploma this week but is instead in a Louisiana jail facing deportation for his role in pro-Palestinian campus protests.
The brief address drew loud boos and chants of 'free Palestine' from some graduating students. Acting president Claire Shipman also alluded to the crackdown on foreign students by the Trump administration that has roiled the Ivy League school in recent months.
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'We firmly believe that our international students have the same rights to freedom of speech as everyone else and they should not be targeted by the government for exercising this right,' Shipman said, adding: 'I know many in our community are mourning the absence of our graduate Mahmoud Khalil.'
Khalil, a graduate student in Columbia's international affairs program, has remained detained since March 8, when immigration agents took him into custody at his off-campus apartment in Manhattan. While in custody, he missed the birth of his first child. His repeated requests to hold the newborn have been rejected by the jail, his attorneys said Wednesday.
As Shipman spoke under rainy skies, some students walked out while others booed and jeered. The acting president, who took over in late March, received a similarly icy reception during a smaller graduation ceremony Tuesday.
At GWU, some students rose to applaud as Culver finished her speech Saturday. Kavita Daiya, an associate dean in the Columbian College of Arts & Sciences, presented her with a distinguished scholar award and said the college represents a variety of viewpoints, thanking Culver for sharing hers. A video of the ceremony, which was live-streamed on YouTube and the school's website, is no longer available.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
