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Indian-American student goes off-script at graduation to criticize Harvard for barring anti-Israel protesters
Shruthi Kumar blasted the university for withholding diplomas of some of her peers after they showed solidarity with Palestine.
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Indian-American student Shruthi Kumar during her commencement speech at Harvard on May.23. / Screengrab X/@HANKonX
Indian-American Harvard student Shruthi Kumar went off script from her English commencement address speech on May.23, criticizing the institute for withholding diplomas of some of her peers after they showed solidarity with Palestine.
Kumar received a roaring applause and a standing ovation for her deviant remarks.
During her speech titled 'The Power of Not Knowing', Kumar drew out a piece of paper from her graduation robe but remarks she subsequently made were not part of the original delivery preparation, according to the university’s student news portal, The Harvard Crimson.
"I am deeply disappointed by the intolerance for freedom of speech and the right to civil disobedience on campus. The students had spoken. The faculty had spoken," Kumar said, followed by reportedly shouting out loud: "Harvard, do you hear us?"
The Harvard Crimson added that more than 1,000 people walked out of Harvard's Commencement event, amid mass discontentment over "the decision to bar 13 pro-Palestine College student protesters from graduating".
A trained Bharatanatyam dancer, Kumar serves as president of student body called Harvard South Asian Association and the co-director of a wellness education program at the institute, as per her LinkedIn profile.
Interestingly, Harvard's Interim President Alan M Garber had forewarned at the start of the ceremony that some students may choose to "take the liberty of expressing themselves to draw attention to events unfolding in the wider world”.
"It is their right to do so. But it is their responsibility to do so with our community — and this occasion — in mind," Garber reportedly said at the beginning, drawing boos from the audience.
According to the student daily, Harvard University also changed its schedule for the graduation event, deviating from its usual tradition where members of the governing board participate in a procession through the Yard.
The university allegedly did so to avoid meeting pro-Palestine protesters marching from the Yard to Epworth Church.
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