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Actions Meet Consequence: MIT Class President Banned from Commencement After Pro-Hamas Speech

Eric V.
Eric V.  |  1:30 PM on May 31, 2025

The plague of antisemitism that has permeated universities across the nation reared its ugly head again this week at the  OneMIT Commencement ceremony on Thursday. From undergraduates to PhD candidates, the OneMIT commencement is an event for all of MIT's graduating students and their families. Class president Megha Vemuri was scheduled to lead the student body in a traditional ceremony known as 'Turning the Brass Rat,' an MIT tradition that dates back to the 1920s. The ceremony in which students turn their class rings on their hands to symbolize the transition from student to graduate lightheartedly refers to an early design of the class ring embossed with a beaver (the school mascot) that more closely resembled a rat. Students turn the rings and sing the school song to celebrate the hard work and dedication that has led them to graduate from one of the most prestigious schools in the country.

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There was nothing lighthearted when Vemuri took to the podium as she unleashed a tirade of antisemitic comments, attempting to turn a commencement ceremony into a free Palestine protest, and effectively ruining the event.

Here are her comments.

Other antisemite activists in the crowd can be heard cheering while others loudly booed. Jewish students could be seen walking out. The celebratory atmosphere of the event had been replaced with an awkward tension. MIT's president Sally Kornbluth came to the podium and tried to put the event back on track, but it was too late. The damage had been done.

Kornbluth and MIT would later claim to have been duped by their Jew-hating class president. Speakers at such events are required to submit a draft of their speech before the event. The draft Vemuri turned in was completely different from the speech she gave at the event.

As a result of her actions, the university banned Vemuri, a neuroscience major, from taking part in the undergraduate commencement ceremony on Friday.

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The statement from MIT:

"While that individual had a scheduled role at today’s Undergraduate Degree Ceremony, she was notified that she would not be permitted at today’s events," said university spokesperson Kimberly Allen. "MIT supports free expression but stands by its decision, which was in response to the individual deliberately and repeatedly misleading Commencement organizers and leading a protest from the stage, disrupting an important Institute ceremony."

 The comments fall short of anything that could be construed as an apology to Jewish students, and there was no indication that Vemuri would face any additional disciplinary actions from MIT. They seem more interested in making the embarrassing incident go away than trying to address the underlying issue of antisemitism on their campus.

Vemuri, like all leftist hacks, responded by claiming victimhood, calling the university action against her, overreach.

The rest of the post:

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Vemuri was banned from attending the undergraduate commencement ceremony on Friday, May 30, 2025 for having performed a “switcheroo” after she delivered a pro-Palestinian speech during the OneMIT commencement ceremony on Thursday, May 29, 2025, which deviated from the speech she had submitted in advance to university officials. MIT Chancellor Melissa Nobles informed Vemuri via email that she and her family were barred from campus for most of Friday, citing that Vemuri "deliberately and repeatedly misled organizers" and violated MIT’s rules by leading a "protest from the stage," disrupting the ceremony. Vemuri disputed the characterization of her speech as a protest and called the ban an "overreach.”

MIT's response has brought little consolation to Jewish students who were forced to endure Vemuri's hateful rhetoric.

The rest of the post:

Instead, MIT’s student commencement speaker decided it was appropriate to use the moment for hate-filled rhetoric against Israelis and Jews. And it wasn’t just one person; too many in the crowd erupted with cheers and anger. My kids might not have understood every word, but they felt the fear and hostility, and kept asking questions from that point on. It was distressing for them, upsetting for us, and deeply distasteful for everyone else who came to celebrate.

How could @MIT let this happen and ruin a special day for hundreds of Jewish graduates and thousands of their family members?

This is even more heartbreaking considering that just last week, a beautiful Jewish American couple was murdered in DC. Shame on MIT for allowing hate and division to overshadow a day meant for celebration and unity.

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 Backlash from the incident extended beyond MIT students.

Hate toward Jews has been rampant and unchecked on college campuses for far too long. We're not sure how much of her future Vemuri has sacrificed, and can only hope that being banned from her undergrad ceremony is the beginning of the consequences she faces for her openly hateful actions.

It's high time that antisemitism in academia is brought to an end. Actions must be met with consequences for both students and the universities that coddle them.