United States, Indian-American origin Megha Vemuri student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on the occasion of commencement ceremony she delivered speech for palestine during an event on Thursday (May 29).
Ms. Vemuri, MIT’s class of 2025 president, was scheduled to be the marshal at the ceremony, but university chancellor, Melissa Nobles, announced she could not attend the event and his family.
“You deliberately and repeatedly misled Commencement organizers,” Ms Nobles wrote in an email to Ms Vemuri, as per the Boston Globe.
Megha Vemuri, born and raised in Alpharetta, Georgia, graduated from Alpharetta High School in 2021. That same year, she began her studies at MIT, where she recently earned her undergraduate degree in computer science, neuroscience, and linguistics.
At MIT, she served as president of her graduating class and joined Written Revolution, a student group focused on sharing innovative ideas. Before attending MIT, Vemuri worked as a research intern at the UCT Neuroscience Institute in South Africa.
Megha Vemuri, wearing a red keffiyeh to show support for Palestinians, criticized Israel for its actions in Gaza. She also called out MIT for its connections to Israel and urged her fellow graduates to take a stand.
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“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,” Ms Vemuri said.
“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.”
She praised students who had stood up in support of Palestine despite pressure from the top hierarchy at the university.
“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,” she said.
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Deeply insightful. I’ll be pondering this for a while.