{"id":27544,"date":"2025-05-20T13:08:28","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T17:08:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=27544"},"modified":"2025-05-20T13:08:28","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T17:08:28","slug":"students-graduation-speech-leaves-him-without-a-diploma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/05\/students-graduation-speech-leaves-him-without-a-diploma","title":{"rendered":"Student\u2019s Graduation Speech Leaves Him Without a Diploma"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NYU<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A student who blasted Israel for attacking Gaza after the attacks on October 7, 2023 during a graduation speech has yet to receive a diploma. Student Logan Rozos was nominated by peers at New York University (NYU) to present the graduation address for the school\u2019s liberal arts program. Rozos\u2019s speech, however, veered into the political realm, taking aim at not only Israel, but also the United States. \u201cThe only thing that is appropriate to say in this time, and to a group this large, is a recognition of the atrocities currently happening in Palestine. The genocide currently occurring is supported politically and militarily by the United States, is paid for by our tax dollars, and has been livestreamed to our phones for the past 18 months,\u201d Rozos stated<\/a>. \u201cI just want to say I condemn this genocide and complicity in this genocide.\u201d<\/p>\n

The speech was hailed by some in the audience, receiving cheers and a standing ovation from some. But it wasn\u2019t universally loved, and backlash quickly followed. \u201cNo student \u2014 especially Jewish students \u2014 should have to sit through politicized rhetoric that promotes harmful lies about Israel during such a personal milestone,\u201d the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement. NYU quickly condemned the speech in a statement from John Beckman, senior vice president for public affairs and strategic communications. \u201cNYU strongly denounces the choice by a student at the Gallatin School\u2019s graduation today at Gallatin School\u2019s graduation today.\u201d He went on to add that Rozos had \u201clied\u201d about the content of the speech prior to graduation. \u201cHe lied about the speech he was going to deliver and violated the commitment he made to comply with our rules. The University is withholding his diploma while we pursue disciplinary actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The controversy comes at a time when NYU is being investigated by the Trump administration over accusations of antisemitism. Universities across the nation have been criticized for anti-Israel protests since the October 7 attacks, with the administration threatening to withhold federal funding from any university which supports such activities. Democrats, too, have denounced such activities, including Rep. Jared Moskowitz of Florida, who openly criticized Rozos<\/a>. \u201cHe lied to the university. Second of all, he lied to everyone listening,\u201d stated Moskowitz. There\u2019s no genocide going on in Israel. There is a war, it\u2019s unfortunate, and there are people in harm\u2019s way because of what Hamas did. Yes, there are situations that I wish would improve, like, you know, getting more food into Gaza.\u201d He later stated that whether Rozos received the diploma back was irrelevant to the damage done by the controversial speech. \u201cYou know, in fact, they can give him his diploma, it\u2019s not going to matter. Good luck getting a job. That was a stupid, selfish thing, ruined the ceremony for a lot of families.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A student who blasted Israel for attacking Gaza after the attacks on October 7, 2023 during a graduation speech has yet to receive a diploma. Student Logan Rozos was nominated by peers at New York University (NYU) to present the graduation address for the school\u2019s liberal arts program. Rozos\u2019s speech, however, veered into the political…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":27547,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nStudent\u2019s Graduation Speech Leaves Him Without a Diploma<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"NYU withholds diploma from student who condemned Israel during graduation speech, sparking backlash amid scrutiny of campus antisemitism.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/05\/students-graduation-speech-leaves-him-without-a-diploma\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Student\u2019s Graduation Speech Leaves Him Without a Diploma\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"NYU withholds diploma from student who condemned Israel during graduation speech, sparking backlash amid scrutiny of campus antisemitism.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/05\/students-graduation-speech-leaves-him-without-a-diploma\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Beliefnet News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-20T17:08:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2025\/05\/Logan-Rozos_credit-NYU.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta 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