NEW YORK — New York University said it would deny a diploma to a student who used a graduation speech to condemn Israel’s attacks on Palestinians and what he described as US “complicity in this genocide.”
Logan Rozos’s speech on Wednesday for graduating students of NYU’s Gallatin School sparked waves of condemnation from pro-Israel groups, who demanded that the university take aggressive disciplinary action against him.
In a statement, NYU spokesperson John Beckman apologized for the speech and accused the student of misusing his platform “to express his personal and one-sided political views.”
“He lied about the speech he was going to deliver and violated the commitment he made to comply with our rules,” Beckman added. “The University is withholding his diploma while we pursue disciplinary actions.”
Universities across the country have faced tremendous pressure to crack down on pro-Palestinian speech or risk funding cuts from US President Donald Trump’s administration, which has equated criticism of Israel with antisemitism.
But NYU, which is attended by Trump’s son, Barron, has largely avoided the president’s ire so far.
Rozos, an actor and member of the Gallatin Theater Troupe, was selected by fellow students to give the liberal arts program’s address. He said he felt a moral and political obligation to speak to the audience about what he called the atrocities in Gaza.
“The genocide currently occurring is supported politically and militarily by the United States, is paid for by our tax dollars, and has been livestreamed to our phones for the past 18 months,” he said.
The speech drew loud cheers from the crowd along with a standing ovation from some graduating students.
But as video of the speech spread online, it was roundly denounced by pro-Israel groups, who accused NYU of creating an unsafe environment for Jewish students.
“No student — especially Jewish students — should have to sit through politicized rhetoric that promotes harmful lies about Israel during such a personal milestone,” the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement.
The group #EndJewHatred suggested the speech — which did not mention Jews — would meet the university’s newly expanded definition of antisemitism, which includes certain criticism of Israel.
An emailed inquiry to Rozos was not returned.
As anti-Israel rallies roiled campuses across the country last spring, the 2024 commencement season was marked by tensions and cancellations, and strict limits on what students could say.
With billions of dollars of funding at risk from the Trump administration, the stakes for universities are even higher this year, some faculty said.
“They are bending over backward to crack down on speech that runs counter to what the current administration in Washington espouses,” said Andrew Ross, a professor of social and cultural analysis at NYU.
“Myself and many of my colleagues are frankly appalled at the decision that’s being made to deny a student speaker his diploma,” Ross added. “This is a very good example of an administration falling down on the job.”
Anti-Israel sentiment has been rampant on US campuses since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led terrorists invaded Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251.
Protesters have often been seen intimidating Jewish students, openly supporting Hamas and its October 7 onslaught, and denying that Israel has a right to exist.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 52,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 20,000 combatants in battle as of January and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.
Israel denies that it is committing genocide and has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities, stressing that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields and fights from civilian areas, including homes, hospitals, schools and mosques.