Student Speaker Dramatically Goes Off-Script at Harvard Graduation
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A Harvard University student speaker put the institution on blast Thursday morning when she dramatically went off script during her commencement address to slam the school for punishing more than a dozen of her peers for their activism.
Shruthi Kumar, the Harvard senior chosen to deliver the English address, sharply reprimanded the university leaders during her time at the podium. During her speech—which was titled “The Power of Not Knowing”—Kumar drew out a piece of paper containing off-script remarks hidden up the sleeve of her crimson gown.
“As I stand here today, I must take a moment to recognize my peers—the 13 undergraduates in the class of 2024 that will not graduate today,” Kumar told the crowd. She was referring to the 13 students who had been denied the opportunity to walk at commencement over the sanctions they’d received for participating in pro-Palestinian protests.
“I am deeply disappointed by the intolerance for freedom of speech and their right to civil disobedience on campus,” she continued. “The students have spoken. The faculty have spoken. Harvard, do you hear us?”
“Harvard, do you hear us?” she repeated.
In response, Kumar received a standing ovation from the crowd, including some of the faculty. The rest of her remarks covered the war in Gaza, the experience of being doxxed for her views, and what she characterized as attacks on free speech and free expression.
Kumar’s fiery indictment of her school was the latest in a wave of protests at Harvard’s commencement ceremonies, sparked by its highest governing body’s decision to deny a faculty-led action that would allow 13 students who participated in pro-Palestinian protests to walk at their commencement ceremony.
On Thursday morning, several protesters silently held up a banner calling attention to the suffering in Gaza and rallied in support of their peers who had been prevented from receiving their degrees. Meanwhile, counterprotesters flew planes high in the sky, trailing U.S. and Israeli flags and a slogan that read, “Jewish Lives Matter.US.”
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