Megha Vemuri might not have been a known name but her pro-Palestine speech during the commencement ceremony has made her the talk of the town. The video of her wearing a red keffiyeh over her graduation robe and reminding everyone at the event that there are no universities left in Gaza went viral. 

Now, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), taking a strict stance, has barred Vemuri from attending her graduation ceremony. 

Vemuri, the 2025 class president of MIT, took to the podium as scheduled for her speech. While many lauded her passionate speech, many thought it was a political ambush where she hijacked the event and insulted every pro-Israel student. Many closer home criticised her for speaking about Palestine and not Pahalgam. 

After her speech, MIT President Sally Kornbluth took to the stage and said that they appreciate free speech but that event was about the graduates. “There’s a time and place to express yourselves and you will have many many years to do it. Let’s talk today about our graduates,” she said. 

Meanwhile, Vemuri confirming that the university’s senior leadership informed her that she was not allowed to attend the graduation ceremony, said, “I see no need for me to walk across the stage of an institution that is complicit in this genocide…I am, however, disappointed that MIT’s officials massively overstepped their roles to punish me without merit or due process, with no indication of any specific policy broken.” Vemuri criticised MIT for its ties with Israel.

The university also said that they stand by the punishment meted out to Vemuri. “MIT supports free expression but stands by its decision, which was in response to the individual deliberately and repeatedly misleading Commencement organisers and leading a protest from the stage,” a school spokesperson said in a statement.

An MIT spokesperson also told CNN that the speech was not the one the speaker provided in advance. 

Vemuri grew up in Georgia, and was a double major in computation and cognition and linguistics. The university said she would receive her degree.