New York University said it is withholding the diploma of a student who condemned “genocide” in Gaza while delivering a graduation speech Wednesday – a move the university called a violation of the student’s commitment to comply with school rules.
Logan Rozos told members of his graduating class that “as I search my heart today in addressing you all … the only thing that is appropriate to say in this time and to a group this large is a recognition of the atrocities currently happening in Palestine.”
NYU “strongly” denounced “the choice by a student at Gallatin School’s graduation,” university spokesperson John Beckman said in a statement after the Wednesday ceremony.
Commencement season on US campuses comes amid the Trump administration’s ongoing crackdown on students who engage in pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Earlier this year, NYU was among the universities cited by the Department of Justice as having “experienced incidents of antisemitism.”
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In his speech, Rozos repeatedly referred to Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide,” which he said was “politically and militarily” supported by the US and “paid for by our tax dollars.”
He said his remarks are intended to “speak for all people of conscience, all people who feel the moral injury of this atrocity.”
Cheers erupted from the crowd when Rozos first mentioned Gaza, and some NYU faculty sitting behind him briefly applauded. Some in the crowd could also be heard booing at times.
Without naming Rozos, Beckman said the student speaker “lied about the speech he was going to deliver and violated the commitment he made to comply with our rules.”
“The university is withholding his diploma while we pursue disciplinary actions,” Beckman said, adding that the school is “deeply sorry that the audience was subjected to these remarks and that this moment was stolen by someone who abused a privilege that was conferred upon him.”
CNN reached out to Rozos and NYU for further details. Rozos’ student biography was no longer on Gallatin’s website as of Thursday night.
CNN also reached out to the student government for comment on Rozos’ speech.
Rozos majored in Cultural Criticism and Political Economy and was a member of the Gallatin Theater Troupe, according to an archived version of Gallatin’s website. He was selected by fellow students to give the program’s commencement address, the Associated Press reported. The commencement ceremony for all of NYU was held Thursday.
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The Anti-Defamation League condemned what it described as “divisive and false comments about the current Israel/Hamas war” and thanked NYU “for their strong condemnation and their pursuit of disciplinary action,” according to a statement on X.
At the same time, the Council on American-Islamic Relations defended the “pro-Palestinian, anti-genocide commencement address” and called on NYU to release the student speaker’s diploma. CAIR described the ongoing disciplinary actions against those who engage in pro-Palestinian protests as a “betrayal to American freedoms and the American people,” according to a statement on X.
Last year, students and faculty were arrested at NYU as protests were held at universities across the US.
The university filed more than 180 conduct cases against students and faculty tied to demonstrations over the war in Gaza following last year’s protests, according to an investigation by NYU’s student newspaper, Washington Square News.
Israel launched its war in Gaza following Hamas’ October 2023 attack in which militants killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostage. According to figures provided by the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Israel’s subsequent military campaign has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and militants. In January, the Israeli military said it had killed 20,000 Hamas operatives since October 7.
