Southwestern University Condemns Student’s Anti-Israel Commencement Speech
“Unfortunately, certain comments did not reflect our respectful and inclusive environment.”
This offensive behavior is going to continue until there are real consequences.
Inside Higher Ed reports:
Southwestern University Blasts Student’s Anti-Israel Commencement Speech
Southwestern University on Monday condemned a student’s speech at its commencement Saturday, characterizing as “highly controversial and antisemitic” her use of the phrase “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and asserting that she had misled institutional officials by delivering a different speech from the one she had shared with them earlier.
“We … expect that student speeches at university-wide events reflect our commitment to a respectful and inclusive environment, while still upholding academic freedom that is the center of our mission,” the university said in its statement. “Unfortunately, certain comments did not reflect our respectful and inclusive environment.”
The speech by the student differed little in terms of content from many others delivered in recent weeks and months. It described Israel as engaging in “genocide” in carrying out its war in Gaza, accused the U.S. government and some university endowments of supporting the arming of Israel, and closed with the “river to the sea” phrase that some view as calling for the elimination of Israel.
Southwestern said in its statement that “many” of those who attended the ceremony had expressed disappointment with the student speaker’s comments. The university said the speaker had been chosen through a vote of Phi Beta Kappa members and that the speech the student delivered differed meaningfully from the version she had shared for feedback.
Commenters on a Facebook post about the university’s statement about the speech predictably divided alumni and students.
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Comments
still waiting for the pro israel crowd to have someone make a speech at these Universities that calls out the blmplo murderers and see what the reaction would be from the pro blmplo admins
You have to be invited in order to make the speech.
I take it there are no Jewish students or faculty at Soutrhwestern. Good for the university to have called her out. What an arrogant rabble rouser. Males you wonder who exactly makes Phi Beta Kappa that thgey have such pooir judgment..
Southwestern is a lefty enclave in a pretty Red county. They do have one Dementiacrat state rep, but he is generally considered the Village Idiot representing the university’s lefty population and disregarded. The rest of the county is solid conservative.