Telugu Student Banned From MIT Ceremony for Supporting Palestine

Indian-American student Megha Vemuri has been banned from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) graduation commencement ceremony after she expressed her solidarity with Palestinians suffering due to Israeli attacks, during her speech from the platform at an event on the campus.

Vemuri, president of the MIT’s class of 2025, was scheduled to be the marshal at the commencement ceremony but University Chancellor Melissa Nobles announced that she could not represent the institution. Vemuri and her family members were banned from the campus for most of the day. In an email to Vemuri, Nobles wrote: “You deliberately and repeatedly misled Commencement organisers. While we acknowledge your right to free expression, your decision to lead a protest from the stage, disrupting an important institute ceremony, was a violation of MIT’s time, place and manner rules for campus expression.”

Vemuri wore a red keffiyeh, a scarf meant to show support for the Palestinian cause, for the event and slammed Israel for its attacks against Gaza. She also bashed the University for its support to Israel and called them ‘complicit in genocide’. The speech comes amidst the US government taking a strong stand against pro-Palestine activities in several universities like Harvard and Columbia and also for not taking any measures to check ‘anti-Semitism’ on the campuses. She urged her fellow graduates to take a firm stand on the issue.

Megha has her roots in Andhra Pradesh but was born and raised in USA. She said: “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. 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.”

Vemuri completed her high school at Alpharetta High School in Georgia and graduated in 2021. The same year she enrolled at MIT and completed her undergraduate degree in computer sciences, neuroscience, and linguistics. She is also a part of Written Revolution, which is a MIT student association providing a platform for revolutionary ideas.