New York University (NYU) retained the diploma of a student who used his graduation speech to accuse the US of supporting the “genocide” in Gaza.
Undergraduate student Logan Rozos told the crowd on Wednesday that he condemned the “atrocities that are currently happening in Palestine”, attracting applause and some boos.
An NYU spokesman accused rockets of lying about what he planned to say in the speech to “express his personal and unilateral political opinions.”
The defense of the Palestinians in university campuses has become strongly politicized in the US, as the Trump government represses what it calls anti -Semitism in elite institutions, generating a tense debate on freedom of expression.
The Nyu said that “he vehemently denounces” and deeply regrets the statements of Rozos, adding: “This moment was stolen by someone who abused a privilege conferred upon him.”
College spokesman John Beckman said that the roll’s diploma would be retained while Nyu took disciplinary measures against him.
After being presented on stage, the student said he was “freaking out with this speech,” but he was obliged to speak.
“The genocide that is currently taking place is politically and militarily supported by the United States, is paid with the money of our taxes and has been broadcast live to our phones,” he said.
“I condemn this genocide and the complicity with this genocide,” Rozos added in comments that lasted about two and a half minutes.
He did not specifically mention Israel, which emphatically denies the accusations of genocide in Gaza, nor the Jewish people.
A profile of Mr. Rozos, already excluded, on the NYU website indicated that he studied cultural criticism and political economy in a small school of liberal arts within the campus.
In another online profile, Rozos is described as an “actor, artist and black man gay.”
The NYU is one of 10 universities investigated by Trump’s anti-Semitic task force by campus incidents since the beginning of the war between Israel and Gaza in October 2023.
However, NYU was not among the 60 universities that received letters from the Department of Education warning of “execution actions” if they did not protect the Jewish students.
The son of US President Barron is a student at Nyu, enrolled in the Stern School of Business.
Probably the university that suffers the most pressure from administration is the oldest in the United States, Harvard.
Trump cut more than $ 2.6 billion in financing, a decision that, according to the university, will damage critical diseases research.
Harvard filed a lawsuit claiming that the action is illegal. The institution also rejected a list of demands that, according to the Trump government, aimed to curb alleged discrimination.
Separately, several foreign students who participated in Pro-Palestine activism in US campuses have been detained in recent months.
The Trump government claims to have expressed support for Hamas, that the US, the EU and the United Kingdom designate as a terrorist group, and called for their deportation.
Student lawyers say they are exercising their right to freedom of expression, accusing the government of “open repression of student activism and political discourse.”
Originally published by BBC News on 15/05/2025
Por Jake Lapham – Washington DC
Source: https://www.ocafezinho.com/2025/05/16/nyu-retem-diploma-de-graduado-que-condenou-a-guerra-de-gaza/
