### MIT Bars Student President from Graduation Ceremony After Pro-Palestine Speech

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has prohibited Megha Vemuri, the class president of 2025, from attending the undergraduate commencement ceremony. This decision followed her unapproved speech criticizing MIT's connections with the Israeli military, delivered during the OneMIT Commencement Ceremony on Thursday.

Vemuri's speech, which accused MIT of being complicit in "genocide" against the Palestinian people, was not vetted before its delivery. In it, she praised student activism, highlighted the plight of Gaza, and called on MIT to sever its ties with Israeli institutions. Vemuri’s address, marked by her wearing a Keffiyeh scarf, resonated with some of her peers who cheered and waved Palestinian flags.

Kimberly Allen, a spokesperson for MIT, explained the institution's decision to bar Vemuri from the main ceremony. “MIT supports free expression but stands by its decision, which was in response to the individual deliberately and repeatedly misleading Commencement organisers and leading a protest from the stage, disrupting an important Institute ceremony,” she stated.

During her four-minute address, Vemuri emphasized the destruction in Gaza and condemned MIT for its affiliations with the Israeli military. She referred to a student vote that urged the university to cut these ties and symbolically asked her fellow graduates to turn their class rings outward, showing that they bear the responsibility to oppose what she described as MIT's complicity in ongoing atrocities.

Despite being barred from attending the ceremony, Vemuri will still receive her diploma via mail, according to her father, Sarat Vemuri. Reflecting on the disciplinary action, she criticized MIT’s response as a "massive overstep" and stated she had been punished "without merit or due process." In a statement, Vemuri expressed she felt no disappointment in missing the ceremony, asserting she found no value in participating in an event sponsored by what she perceives as a complicit institution.

Immediately following Vemuri’s speech, MIT President Sally Kornbluth addressed the audience without mentioning the incident directly. She reaffirmed the university’s commitment to freedom of expression, albeit noting that the day’s focus should remain on the graduates, even as some attendees chanted in response to the controversy.