Dozens of graduates and faculty quietly called for expanded free speech policies and divestment from companies with ties to Israel at NYU’s school-specific graduation ceremonies, just days after NYU said it was withholding the diploma of a Gallatin graduating student who condemned “atrocities currently happening in Palestine” in his ceremonial speech.
During the Tisch School of the Arts’ Friday ceremony at Radio City Music Hall, eight faculty members from the NYU Game Center stood on stage with white cloth tied around their mouths during a speech by department chair Naomi Clark, who told WSN that the demonstration was meant to bring attention to “restrictions and endangerment of students’ ability to freely express themselves.”
As one of Tisch’s seven department chairs who gave a speech and presented a diploma to a student representative from the program, Clark also noted the protest in her address — which was otherwise focused on the role of art amid a period of uncertainty and “horrific war, violence and monstrous injustices.”
“If you speak out and express yourselves, you’ll be targeted for censure and retribution by a government — or even by your own university,” Clark said in her speech, met with applause. “That’s unacceptable. Please know that your teachers have your backs and that we always strive to grow braver together.”
Last week, NYU withheld the diploma of Gallatin student speaker Logan Rozos after he said his “moral and political commitments” led him to denounce Israel’s ongoing siege in Gaza at the school’s ceremony. The decision made national headlines and led to backlash from local civil rights groups, and dozens of students booed as President Linda Mills began her remarks at this year’s all-university commencement.
During the ceremony, the Film and Television student representative Shreeya Jayabharathi wore a keffiyeh and raised her hands to reveal “NO JUSTICE” written on her right palm and “NO PEACE” on the left.
Dana Polan, chair of the Martin Scorsese Department of Cinema Studies, began his remarks with a quote from Palestinian American scholar Edward Said. His speech detailed “the utopian space still provided by the university” and the role of scholarship amid humanitarian crises.
“The production of knowledge, the dissemination of knowledge, define the university as an ideal, and maybe they define being human at its ideal,” he said. “These are ideas that are worthy of praise — even when, or even as — they come under attack.”
Around five dozen graduating law students also revealed banners reading “NYU DIVEST” and “FREE PALESTINE” as they walked at their graduation. The protest comes after dozens of students were restricted from university buildings pending contractual agreement to halt on-campus protests.
Last year, students similarly chanted and carried signs during commencement ceremonies for Tisch, Gallatin School of Individualized Study and NYU School of Law, in protest of the university’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian demonstrations. At the time, Tisch Dean Allyson Green said students’ “collective acts of both protest and creation” were “reinventing” and “reordering.”
During her opening speech this year, Green urged the over-5,000 attendees to participate in the celebrations “without disruption” and instead focus on honoring “significant accomplishments” of the graduating class. The event marked Green’s 11th and final commencement ceremony as dean of the school, after announcing that she would be stepping down from the position and returning to her work as a professor last October.
The event, which honored 1,796 graduates, also featured student performances, faculty awards and an address from Clive Davis Alum and grammy-nominated singer, songwriter and record producer Maggie Rogers — the youngest honorary speaker in Tisch’s history.
Rogers reflected on her time as a Tisch undergrad through anecdotes. She recounted struggles behind her rise to fame following the release of her overnight success song, “Alaska,” and encouraged students to drop comparisons, embrace individuality in their or and “feel everything.”
“There is no humanity without art — you are needed now more than ever,” student speaker Matan Haman said in the ceremony’s closing remarks. “We don’t need your masterpieces, we need your attempts.”
Dharma Niles contributed reporting.
Contact Leena Ahmed at [email protected].
