{"id":468,"date":"2024-05-21T12:00:35","date_gmt":"2024-05-21T12:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homesinlincolnnebraska.com\/?p=468"},"modified":"2024-07-04T13:54:27","modified_gmt":"2024-07-04T13:54:27","slug":"not-celebratory-gls-valedictorian-not-permitted-to-deliver-pro-palestinian-speech-at-graduation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homesinlincolnnebraska.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/21\/not-celebratory-gls-valedictorian-not-permitted-to-deliver-pro-palestinian-speech-at-graduation\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Not celebratory\u2019: GLS valedictorian not permitted to deliver pro-Palestinian speech at graduation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"This<\/a><\/p>\n

This year\u2019s valedictorian in Global Liberal Studies was not permitted to deliver a speech at the program\u2019s graduation ceremony \u2014 which criticized NYU\u2019s ties to Israel, disciplinary action brought against student and faculty protesters, and police presence on campus \u2014 after the school\u2019s dean said the speech was \u201cnot celebratory.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In the speech obtained by WSN, the student condemned NYU\u2019s study away site in Tel Aviv, claiming it \u201cwas built on the razed ruins\u201d of a Palestinian village. The student, who requested to remain anonymous due to safety concerns, also noted the university\u2019s \u201cfinancial connections with companies aiding in genocide,\u201d citing NYU\u2019s connection to the multi-trillion dollar investment company BlackRock \u2014 whose CEO Laurence Fink sits on the university\u2019s board of trustees. The student claimed that the company is \u201cone of the biggest investors in the companies manufacturing weapons for the genocide in Palestine.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t particularly want to write a speech in the first place since I felt that I had nothing good to say about NYU at that moment,\u201d the student told WSN. \u201cI ended up writing one mostly about how I actually felt about NYU which I knew would likely not be accepted. I was expecting that the dean might ask that I rewrite or edit but she did not, only saying that \u2018I cannot allow you to speak at the ceremony.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After the student submitted their speech, associate dean Jonathon White wrote in an email to the student that LS dean Julie Mostov wanted to meet with them. In the April 8 meeting, Mostov told the student she \u201cwon\u2019t be able\u201d to let them speak at the program’s graduation ceremony, which took place at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts last Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYour speech was not celebratory,\u201d Mostov told the student in a recording of the meeting obtained by WSN. \u201cIt\u2019s possible that you felt like you couldn\u2019t write one, because you\u2019re angry about the way NYU has treated some of its students, some of the ways in which you feel that you may have been treated and some of NYU\u2019s politics. But this is not the place nor the moment, because it\u2019s not for you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mostov also told the student that she was worried that people \u201cwould have attacked\u201d them for their speech, or \u201cfor ruining their graduation or for differing with\u201d their opinions. She added that many graduates \u201cwill remember this moment for the rest of their lives\u201d and that she didn\u2019t want the student to \u201ctake that away from them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Divestment from companies with ties to Israel has been one of the key demands of campus demonstrations in the past few months, including the Gaza Solidarity Encampments at Gould Plaza and the Paulson Center. In a previous statement to WSN, NYU said that <\/span>it is not considering divestment<\/span><\/a> from companies with ties to Israel, and the university has <\/span>continuously rejected calls<\/span><\/a> to shut down its study away site in Tel Aviv.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In their speech, the student also condemned New York City Police Department officers \u201cstationed in and around NYU buildings\u201d for the \u201cpurpose of surveilling students\u201d participating in pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus. The uptick in police presence came after the university authorized the NYPD to sweep both pro-Palestinian encampments on campus, which led to the arrests of dozens of students and faculty.<\/span><\/p>\n

The student also denounced the university\u2019s recent usage of disciplinary action against students and faculty. This past semester, NYU <\/span>terminated a postdoctoral instructor<\/span><\/a> at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences for ripping down posters of hostages taken by Hamas. A first-year student <\/span>was also suspended<\/span><\/a> for taking down hostage posters on campus, <\/span>now suing the university<\/span><\/a> for allegedly misapplying its conduct policies.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen students receive disciplinary threats, be suspended or have their funding taken away for peaceful political action and speech,\u201d the speech reads. \u201cI\u2019ve seen professors be suspended for reading poetry out loud in the library or for posting things on Instagram. I\u2019ve seen other professors be secretive about speaking up against genocide for fear that they might get fired.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier this semester, the university <\/span>suspended a Gallatin professor<\/span><\/a> after a video of him criticizing media coverage of Hamas amid Israel\u2019s ongoing siege in Gaza surfaced online. It also suspended a Steinhardt professor <\/span>following complaints about his social media posts<\/span><\/a> in which he had refused to condemn Hamas for the violence in the war.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The student also addressed NYU\u2019s contract with Nike amid the company\u2019s wage theft allegations in its Bangkok factory, Hong Seng Knitting. Since October, NYU\u2019s chapter of the labor rights movement Pay Your Workers <\/span>has continuously held protests<\/span><\/a> demanding that NYU cut its ties with the company, which provides the NYU Bookstore <\/span>with Nike-branded merchandise. In response to ongoing student demands, the <\/span>university administration sent a letter to Nike<\/span><\/a> in April asking for it to address the allegations.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a written statement to WSN, Mostov said the student \u201cdid not push back\u201d on not being able to speak at the ceremony. The student told WSN that they chose not to push back against the administration because they \u201cdidn\u2019t want to write a speech that would be more tailored towards the sensitivities of the administration.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an honor that comes with an obligation to provide a speech that is reflective of the GLS experience and the future ahead, expressing concerns about current challenges, but inspiring for all students and celebratory; the speech submitted didn\u2019t meet that standard,\u201d Mostov wrote. \u201cCommencement is a special day for all students and families, and recognizing this is part of the responsibility of the speaker. As dean, it\u2019s my duty to try to facilitate this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

At the University of Southern California, this year\u2019s valedictorian <\/span>was similarly not permitted to give a speech<\/span><\/a> at the university\u2019s commencement ceremony, with the administration citing \u201csafety concerns.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite not allowing the student to speak at the graduation ceremony, Mostov noted that the student was still recognized as valedictorian during the event\u2019s procession. She added that the event was still \u201cfilled with expressions of concern over current challenges, including the tragedies in Palestine, Sudan and elsewhere.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese four years are, as is the rest of your life, more than what I, or NYU, tells you it is,\u201d the student wrote in the speech. \u201cI hope that wherever we go, our global perspective, our thinking beyond the borders, is different from that which NYU is promoting now. I hope that it does not build itself on the repression of communities or on stolen land.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Contact Bruna Horvath at bhorvath@nyunews.com.<\/em><\/p>\n

This story \u2018Not celebratory\u2019: GLS valedictorian not permitted to deliver pro-Palestinian speech at graduation<\/a> appeared first on Washington Square News<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year\u2019s valedictorian in Global Liberal Studies was not permitted to deliver a speech at the program\u2019s graduation ceremony \u2014 which criticized NYU\u2019s ties to Israel, disciplinary action brought against student and faculty protesters, and police presence on campus \u2014 after the school\u2019s dean said the speech was \u201cnot celebratory.\u201d In the speech obtained by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/homesinlincolnnebraska.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/homesinlincolnnebraska.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/homesinlincolnnebraska.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homesinlincolnnebraska.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homesinlincolnnebraska.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/homesinlincolnnebraska.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":471,"href":"https:\/\/homesinlincolnnebraska.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468\/revisions\/471"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homesinlincolnnebraska.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/homesinlincolnnebraska.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homesinlincolnnebraska.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homesinlincolnnebraska.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}