NYU withholds student’s diploma for surprise speech on Gaza

New York University on Wednesday said it would withhold student Logan Rozos’ diploma after she used a graduation speech to condemn what she called genocide in Gaza. The school planned to pursue disciplinary action against Rozos, who lied about the planned content of her remarks, it said.

Rozos said that the United States was politically and militarily supporting genocide and other atrocities in Gaza. She didn’t mention Israel or Jews by name in the short speech. A video of the speech appeared to show portions of the audience loudly applauding, though some may have yelled out to disrupt Rozos’ remarks. NYU said it strongly denounced Rozos’ choice to express one-sided political views.

Who is Logan Rozos? The actor and artist self-identifies as a gay transgender man, according to an online profile on the Firelight Media website. Rozos studied cultural criticism and political economy at NYU’s Gallatin School, the BBC reported.

What’s NYU’s track record of pro-Palestinian protests? New York University students held several protests in the spring of 2024, including a pro-Palestinian encampment similar to one held at nearby Columbia University. School officials asked the New York Police Department to break up the encampment after about a day. Police arrested 120 students and faculty, charging the majority with trespassing, according to a report by news website The City.

NYU is one of 10 schools singled out for investigation by the Federal Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism due to concerns that it failed to protect Jewish students and faculty from discrimination.