George Washington University officials banned a graduate student from campus after her May 17 commencement speech criticized Israel and the university.
Cecilia Culver spoke at GWU’s Columbian College of Arts & Sciences’ first graduation ceremony, during which she condemned the university for disciplining pro-Palestinian protesters and refusing to divest from companies connected to Israel, according to The GW Hatchet.
“For over a year, we have watched a genocide be committed against Palestinians,” Culver said to cheers and applause from the crowd.
She spoke of the Palestinians killed in Gaza and GWU’s relationship with Israel and with the students who protested the war since Oct. 7, 2023, according to The Washington Post.
“I cannot celebrate my own graduation without a heavy heart, knowing how many students in Palestine have been forced to stop their studies, expelled from their homes and killed for simply remaining in the home of their ancestors,” she said.
Within hours, GWU administrators issued an apology to the families in attendance, stating that Culver’s remarks did not reflect the views of the university. A May 19 statement by the university’s media relations office called Culver’s speech “inappropriate” and “dishonest,” given that Culver had submitted and rehearsed a “very different” speech from what she delivered at the ceremony.
“We deeply regret that this moment of special celebration was violated for our students, their families, and other members of the community by this speaker,” the statement, which didn’t name the speaker, read.
The statement announced that the economics and statistics graduate had been “barred from all GWU’s campuses and sponsored events elsewhere.” GWU administrators also observed that some students had displayed signs they had brought underneath their graduation gowns “despite clear guidance to the contrary,” according to the statement.
University officials are currently investigating the incident to determine whether event protocols were followed and whether the students’ actions violated GWU’s Code of Conduct, the statement read.
In her speech, Culver accused the university administration of ignoring students’ repeated demands for accountability and transparency in its investments.
“Despite repeated calls to disclose all endowments and investments by the university and divest from the apartheid state of Israel, the administration has refused,” Culver said. “Instead, they have repressed anyone with the courage to point out the blood on their hands.”
She concluded her speech by urging members of the class of 2025 to “withhold donations [to GWU] and continue advocating for disclosure and divestment,” prompting a standing ovation.
Kavita Daiya, GWU’s associate dean for academic innovation, told the crowd that the university represents many viewpoints and thanked Culver for sharing hers, according to Just the News.com.
A letter to GWU administrators signed by nearly 700 community members urged Daiya to publicly apologize for “legitimizing and appearing to support” Culver’s message after her speech.
Sabrina Soffer, the author of the letter and a GWU graduate as of May 17, wrote that Culver’s commencement speech contained “fabricated accusations of genocide and apartheid directed at Israel.”
“It was a blatant misuse of an institutional platform to promote divestment from Israel and incite hatred through an inflammatory and spurious politicized speech,” Soffer wrote. “A commencement speech should unite the student body through shared memories — not divide it with political opinions and hate.”
Soffer added that “a few” GWU parents emailed administrators ahead of commencement, warning them to be vigilant of potential disruptions during the ceremony based on similar incidents at other universities’ graduation ceremonies. The parents suggested various courses of action, including cutting the microphone mid-speech, which officials did not do.
“The speaker was allowed to make these very politically charged and hateful, divisive remarks for four minutes and that’s completely unacceptable,” Soffer told Washington Jewish Week.
Other GWU community members have lauded Culver for her “bravery” in speaking up about a humanitarian issue and exercising her First Amendment rights, according to comments under The GW Hatchet’s Instagram post.
“[T]here are no universities left in Gaza,” one commenter wrote. “[S]o proud of her for standing for all of the martyrs who will never get the opportunity to graduate.”
A recent GWU graduate started a petition on Change.org to demand that university administrators drop the investigation against Culver, which has garnered more than 700 signatures at the time of publication.
Some others argue that a commencement speech isn’t the appropriate time or place to share these views. Soffer and some others believe Culver shouldn’t have been dishonest with university officials about the content of her speech.
Palestine Legal, an organization supporting the pro-Palestinian movement in the United States, told The Washington Post that it had taken Culver on as a client after GWU’s announcement that officials were conducting an investigation.
“Students are harbingers of how future generations will view this historical moment and the role of universities in it,” Palestine Legal wrote in a statement. “History will celebrate principled students like Logan Rozos at [New York University] and our client Cecilia Culver at GWU.”
This incident comes as graduates at other U.S. universities face disciplinary action for demonstrating pro-Palestinian views. NYU withheld the diploma of an undergraduate student, Logan Rozos, for using his graduation speech to denounce U.S. support of “genocide in Gaza” on May 14.
On May 7, three students at Virginia Commonwealth University received notice that their degrees would be revoked for their involvement in pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus in 2024, according to the Post. Two of the three students are Palestinian. One was notified that her degree would no longer be withheld and the other two students are awaiting the university’s decision.
zbell@midatlanticmedia.com
