{"id":1925,"date":"2025-06-03T11:46:27","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T06:46:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/?p=1925"},"modified":"2025-06-03T05:09:28","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T00:09:28","slug":"mit-bars-graduating-president-after-gaza-genocide-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/2025\/06\/03\/mit-bars-graduating-president-after-gaza-genocide-speech","title":{"rendered":"MIT Bars Graduating President After Gaza Genocide Speech"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\"><strong>ISLAMABAD:<\/strong>\u00a0The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has banned its Class of 2025 president, Megha Vemuri, from attending graduation ceremonies after she condemned Israel\u2019s genocide in Gaza during her commencement speech. Despite being barred from campus, Vemuri will still receive her degree.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Defiant Stand for Palestine<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\">Wearing a keffiyeh over her graduation robe, Vemuri criticized MIT\u2019s ties to Israel and praised student protests against Gaza\u2019s destruction.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\">&#8220;We are watching Israel try to wipe Palestine off the face of the earth,&#8221; she declared, urging alumni to demand MIT sever military-linked partnerships.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" style=\"background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);\" data-instgrm-captioned=\"\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/DKSH7wJiqYK\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\">\n<div style=\"padding: 16px;\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 19% 0;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-top: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;\">View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 12.5% 0;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;\">\n<div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: auto;\">\n<div style=\"width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;\"><a style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/DKSH7wJiqYK\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A post shared by Palestinian Youth Movement (@palestinianyouthmovement)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\">Her speech, shared widely online, highlighted the eradication of Gaza\u2019s universities and MIT\u2019s complicity in the violence that has killed over 53,000 Palestinians.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Institutional Backlash<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\">MIT President Sally Kornbluth interrupted the ceremony, claiming Vemuri &#8220;misled organizers&#8221; by deviating from her pre-approved speech. University officials accused her of &#8220;disrupting&#8221; the event, though no specific policy violations were cited.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\">Vemuri rejected the punishment as hypocritical: &#8220;MIT massively overstepped to silence dissent while claiming to support free speech.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\">The move reflects a broader crackdown on pro-Palestine voices across U.S. campuses. NYU recently withheld a student\u2019s diploma for similar remarks, while Columbia suspended 65 protesters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\">The Biden administration has escalated visa restrictions and social media vetting for international students, targeting dissent under the guise of &#8220;national security.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Global Reactions<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\">Vemuri\u2019s courage drew widespread praise, with supporters calling her a &#8220;hero&#8221; for risking her academic future to confront genocide.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\">However, Indian critics accused her of &#8220;selective activism,&#8221; sparking online debates about solidarity with Palestine versus other global injustices.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\">As universities weaponize policies to suppress moral opposition to Gaza\u2019s destruction, Vemuri\u2019s act underscores a vital truth: silence enables atrocity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ds-markdown-paragraph\">Her speech\u2014delivered on a stage meant to celebrate institutional pride\u2014instead exposed its moral bankruptcy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ISLAMABAD:\u00a0The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has banned its Class of 2025 president, Megha Vemuri, from attending graduation ceremonies after she condemned Israel\u2019s genocide in Gaza during her commencement speech. Despite being barred from campus, Vemuri will still receive her degree. Defiant Stand for Palestine Wearing a keffiyeh over her graduation robe, Vemuri criticized MIT\u2019s &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1926,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[688],"tags":[473,301,854,853,394],"class_list":["post-1925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","tag-censorship","tag-gaza","tag-genocide","tag-mit","tag-protest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1925"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1927,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1925\/revisions\/1927"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youdigital.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}