#gwu

Marina Dunbar at The Guardian:

A graduation speech at George Washington University has resulted in the graduate being banned from the campus after she used the platform to criticize the university’s ties to Israel and express support for Palestinians. [...] Culver condemned the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza, criticized GWU’s connections to Israel, and urged the audience to withhold donations from the college and push for financial transparency, as well as for the college to divest from Israeli-linked companies. “I am ashamed to know my tuition [fee] is being used to fund this genocide,” Culver said from the stage. “I call upon the class of 2025 to withhold donations and continue advocating for disclosure and divestment.” [...] “The speaker’s conduct during Saturday’s Columbian College of Arts and Sciences celebration event was inappropriate and dishonest: the speaker submitted and recited in rehearsal very different remarks than those she delivered at the ceremony,” the school said in a statement. “The speaker has been barred from all GW’s campuses and sponsored events elsewhere.” GWU also issued an apology, saying the speech had disrupted what was meant to be a celebratory occasion. The incident has since gone viral, with one video of the speech gaining more than 1 million views. Many have praised Culver for taking a stand on behalf of Palestinians, but others have criticized her for “politicizing” a graduation ceremony.

Oren Root, a longtime New York City lawyer and Columbia University graduate who was at the school when anti-Vietnam War protests rocked it in 1968, said Shafik's summoning of police was "an extraordinary miscalculation."