NYU delays diploma for student over Israel criticism in graduation speech

New York University (NYU) according to The Guardian of Thursday, May 15, 2025, is withholding a student’s diploma after he condemned Israel’s military campaign in Gaza during his graduation speech.

Logan Rozos, the selected undergraduate speaker from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, delivered remarks on Wednesday.

His remarks sharply criticized Israel’s actions in Gaza and the United States’ support of them.

During his speech, Rozos told the audience that it would be inappropriate to ignore the current situation in Palestine.

“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,” he said.

He explained that his remarks were guided by his “moral and political commitments,” as he denounced Israel’s military offensive, which has resulted in the deaths of at least 53,000 Palestinians over the past 18 months.

Rozos described the conflict as a genocide.

He asserted that it has been “supported politically and militarily by the United States,” and funded by American taxpayers.

He noted that this violence has been visible to the public through widespread media coverage over the past year and a half.

Rozos emphasized that his message was not just a personal political stance.

He said it was also a statement made on behalf of “all people of conscience” who feel morally wounded by the ongoing violence.

His speech received significant support from students in the auditorium, with many applauding and cheering.

However, the speech also drew negative reactions; some attendees booed, and at least one shouted “bullshit” during his address.

Shortly after the event, NYU issued a public statement criticizing Rozos’s actions.

The university claimed that Rozos had misrepresented the content of his speech beforehand and violated university rules.

NYU said he had committed to delivering a different message and accused him of misusing the platform to promote “personal and one-sided political views.”

As a result, the university is withholding his diploma and pursuing disciplinary action.

“NYU 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,” the statement read.

By Thursday morning, Rozos’s profile had been removed from NYU Gallatin’s website, displaying a “404 Error – Page Not Found” message.

Both Rozos and NYU declined to respond to media requests for comment at the time.

The university’s reaction comes in the context of increased scrutiny and tension around anti-war speech on campuses.

This is particularly related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Last August, NYU revised its student conduct guidelines to label certain terms, such as “Zionist,” as potential examples of discriminatory speech.

The updated policy stated that “for many Jewish people, Zionism is a part of their Jewish identity.”

The policy further stated that any speech that targets Zionists could violate NYU’s nondiscrimination and anti-harassment policy.

This policy shift followed a wave of pro-Palestinian student protests at NYU and other universities.

At NYU, these demonstrations led to the university calling police onto campus, resulting in widespread arrests of both students and faculty.

In December, two tenured professors, Andrew Ross and Sonya Posmentier, were labeled “personae non gratae” by the university.

They were banned from entering certain university buildings after participating in a sit-in at NYU’s library that called for the university to divest from companies profiting from Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

The professors later accused NYU of intensifying its crackdown on anti-war speech due to pressure from donors, politicians, and pro-Israel organizations.

In another incident earlier this year, NYU canceled a scheduled lecture by Dr. Joanne Liu, a pediatric emergency physician and former international president of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders).

Liu said she was contacted the night before her March presentation by the vice-chair of NYU’s education department.

She said the NYU vice-chair raised concerns about slides referencing USAID funding cuts by the Trump administration and casualty figures from Gaza.

According to Liu, she was told the content related to Gaza could be seen as antisemitic.

This reportedly prompted the cancellation of her talk, which the university labeled “anti-governmental.”

Together, these events supposedly illustrate growing tensions around academic freedom, political expression, and university governance at NYU.

This is particularly, concerning criticism of Israel’s military actions.

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