NYU withholds diploma of graduate who condemned Gaza war

It's a Shanda! NYU curtailing free speech, a Shanda! Trump defunding, Shanda!

Gaza, a shanda!

All of this, on all sides, from every dreary angle. It's a Shanda.

Agree with this non-grad said or not this is a prime example of someone who should have been smarter, less brave, less straight forward in what he did, and should have sent in his comments anonymously to the school like any coward would who did not want to risk anything but still say something.

I suppose if he’d eulogised Genocide Bibi he’d have been ok - no need for balance when it comes to him.

Why was he speaking? Valedictorian? Is he a Queer for Palestine?

I suppose if he really believes the Israelis are committing genocide he is justified to say it. He seems very nervous. He doesn't get that 20% of the crown, mimimim, doesn't need this a lecture on ethics and resistance from him at that moment on that occasion. And anyway, NYU should give him his shitty B List school diploma and be done with him.

I meant to write 80% doesnt need or want to hear this twink's moralising. not 20%. Perhaps he should have promoted his OnlyFans.

This is thanks to Trump. These schools are scared shitless.

The student lied to the school about what he was going to say. The school trusted him to be honest.

He shouldn't have had to lie. And he shouldn't have needed to say this at a graduation where 99.999% of the audience is not himself. But he did say it. So now NYU is spineless. They can just shrug and say, ah youth, free speech and move on. But they are 100% cowed by Trump, because they really do need the cash. It's a shit show with no good actors.

NYU is not being spineless in this case R8. They wanted this massively divisive subject to stay out of the students' graduation speeches. The student agreed, assuring them it would not be mentioned. The student then betrayed them. It's a disciplinary matter now.

Good. Fuck this underhanded, performative little twat and all those like him.

Oh, and, try being a “gay black trans man” in Gaza. They’ll educate you on what “genocide” really means and you’ll be begging Israel to rescue you.

[quote]The student lied to the school about what he was going to say. The school trusted him to be honest.

We were totally blindsided that a gay black transman, who is also an actor, would act so dishonestly!

[Quote] The student lied to the school about what he was going to say.

Gee, I wonder why he had to do that?

He paid the tuition and passed the courses. He deserves a diploma whether he kisses Israel’s ass or not.

This is a mega lawsuit that attorneys will be jumping to prosecute

He didn’t. even mention Israel in the speech.

Is there any other country that were not allowed to criticize?

[Quote] This is thanks to Trump. These schools are scared shitless.

They should also be scared shitless of the lawsuits the students will start

The only genocide is in South Africa against Whites!!

R12 yes that is my point at in R8, which R9 overlooks. R9 I see the point about disciplinary but it's window dressing. It's also spineless in the face of National executive branch dirty tricks. As I said if Trump's goon squad wasn't in action, NYU wouldn't have demanded promises to be "polite". And then when he was not polite, NYU could have just announced "our student's statement are his own" and moved on. So yeah dickless. I understand why, but still. They are all gross. At least the student is young and deluded. Little bitch that he is.

If he said something pro-Israel, he’d be praised

[Quote] Oh, and, try being a “gay black trans man” in Gaza. They’ll educate you on what “genocide” really means and you’ll be begging Israel to rescue you.

Jews were portrayed as evil by the Nazis to justify genocide too

[Quote] Oh, and, try being a “gay black trans man” in Gaza. They’ll educate you on what “genocide” really means and you’ll be begging Israel to rescue you.

A gay black trans man understands genocide

A gay black trans man would be shot dead by the Jewish right wing

[Quote] We were totally blindsided that a gay black transman, who is also an actor, would act so dishonestly!

He was absolutely honest about what’s happening in that war

His ironically his honestly that is causing NYU to deny him his degree

If he’d told them what he was going to say, he would have lost the opportunity to say it. So I think I have to give him a pass on the deceptiveness charge.

He’s young. You are supposed to have strong opinions when you are young and you are supposed to act on them because your youth is the only time you will have the freedom to. I don’t necessarily agree with him, but I don’t think he went too far. Seems like he was trying to follow his conscience but not be an asshole. I’m not saying the was right, but it doesn’t seem like he had bad intentions.

NYU isn’t denouncing his actions because they are afraid of Trump. Sure, they don’t want to draw his attention and may try to avoid alienating him, so that may be a very small concern, but Trump isn’t going to go after them because a student did what they told him not to.

NYU is denouncing him and withholding his diploma because they are afraid of their Jewish donors. Which is rational. That is their motivation, not Trump. It’s not even close. They have a lot of Jewish donors who have made huge donations. And relatively recently. Not in 1950. I think it’s way out of scale compared to other schools.

They are coming out of the gate hard to cut off any donor displeasure before it ramps up. They’ll do a review and then give the kid his diploma. He’ll have it by the end of the year. And it’s not like he’s going to lose his spot in the Goldman IB associate program .

[quote]Trump isn’t going to go after them because a student did what they told him not to

If only we'd thought of that! We would have told them.... oh wait. Nevermind.

You honestly don't think Trump and his cult's relentless attack on universities, especially any university that shows any sympathy for palestinians ever, has nothing to do with it r24? Really?

They should stick to STEM majors for speeches.

I think it has far, far less to do with it than concerns about donors, R26.

They will mail him the degree. Happens all the time if not for the same “offense.”

It's about trump much more than donors. Jewish donors are not giving HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS year after year. In the 2022–23 academic year, NYU reported $1.46 billion in research and development expenditures, ranking it No. 1 among New York State universities and No. 12 nationally. $600 million + annually in federal research grants.

A LOT IS ON THE LINE. With trump's goon squad playing hardball.

R24 are you a MAGAT, an imbecile, or both?

Nobody wants to hear your commentary about a subject that will do absolutely nothing but interrupt the graduation ceremony for thousands and make it awkward.

Of course there's never any condemnation of Hamas - ever.

Stupid young man. I'm on NYU's side.

And as mentioned above, being a gay black trans - let's see how welcomed he would feel. In Israel he'd be fine, he could be killed in Palestine and nobody would say a word.

The singularity of focus by young people on this one issue is really nauseating. Feels like an internet meme come to life.

Was this the massive general Yankee Stadium graduation for all NYU graduates? Or smaller division only ceremony? And does anyone know was he was speaking? Undergraduate valedictorian?

Do I think they should withhold his diploma? Absolutely not.

But I graduated with my doctorate in 2021, and our student speaker was also a student activist who spent the entire speech centering George Floyd. I could have done without that and instead would have welcomed a speech that pondered the life of the mind -- such as it exists in the American academy, of course.

[quote]Mr Rozos is described as an "actor, artist, and gay Black trans man".

NYU needs to admit fewer stereotypes.

He paid for and earned that diploma. They should not have held that back from him for his freedom of speech!

[Quote] NYU is denouncing him and withholding his diploma because they are afraid of their Jewish donors.

The wealthiest Jewish donors were the one who ultimately caused the college heads to lose their jobs—Particularly the oligarch whose wife also plagiarized parts of her theses

[Quote] NYU needs to admit fewer stereotypes.

Like smart Jewish kids who will either go into business or become doctors?

R4 B list school? Bitch please.

[quote] You are supposed to have strong opinions when you are young and [bold]you are supposed to act on them because your youth is the only time you will have the freedom to. [/bold]

You are absolutely not "supposed" to do that--you just pulled that out of your ass.

And the very reason older people are more circumspect is because they know what will happen when you willfully flout the rules. Well, he learned a valuable lesson: his misbehavior has consequences.

R35 HIGHLY unlikely he paid for his NYU education. Even NYU has some scholarship students. though many fewer than it should.

R10, I grew up among your fellow conservatives and they were terribly homophobic

And r31 thinks Israel is fine with trans people 🙄

White people say the darndest things!

[quote] when you willfully flout the rules

It’s important, R39 to consider why certain “rules” are in place and if they are just and fair or if they are not. The rules in this case are quite obviously in place to satiate donors (and the larger political pressure from the current rightwing government), and the implications of those rules on certain types of speech considering an ongoing genocide are definitely worth breaking, because they are improper in the first place.

[quote]A gay black trans man understands genocide

Ohmygawd! How totally terrifying you actually believe this!

Yet nary a peep about the 2,000 Israelis slaughtered on Oct. 6th. That doesn't fit this person's narrative, nor satishy their attention seeking!

Is Logan a MTF or FTM? Not being cunty, so hard to tell nowadays.

At this rate I want to stand up and trash Israel just to piss these cretins off and I’m Jewish. MAGA and rabid Zionists can go fuck themselves. I’m not even pro-Palestinian. This is authoritarian bullshit.

These schools are also robbing their students blind.

Is the thinking here just that it’s impolite to mention the fact that Israel is actively genociding the Palestinians with a big assist by our current fascist regime? Is it even less decorous to do so while black and/or trans?

Watch out—Trump and the GOP are leaning into this to divide Americans. He using the excuse of anti-semitism to break all our Democratic norms.

Yes, let’s blame the student by making fun of his black, trans whatever self and ignore the slaughtering in the Middle East.

So much more fun that way

Good.

[quote] It’s important, [R39] to consider why certain “rules” are in place and if they are just and fair or if they are not. The rules in this case are quite obviously in place to satiate donors (and the larger political pressure from the current rightwing government), and the implications of those rules on certain types of speech considering an ongoing genocide are definitely worth breaking, because they are improper in the first place.

I didn't say anything to the contrary.

But if you commit acts of civil disobedience, then you face the consequences. To believe you can just do whatever with impunity is not what either Gandhi or MLK said was the correct approach.

It's a war and war is always ugly.

Sometimes I wonder whether or not these pro Palestinian types would have been protesting actions of the allies during WW2 had they been alive at the time, but then I realize that most of these usless young men would have been conscripted.

[quote] But if you commit acts of civil disobedience

R52 civil disobedience? 😂 girl it’s words. You’re hysterical (both senses).

[quote] Sometimes I wonder whether or not these pro Palestinian types would have been protesting actions of the allies during WW2 had they been alive at the time

They would have been protesting against the extermination of Jewish people by the Nazis, and people like you would have been shushing them.

Exactly—these students are from the same lineage as those who protested how Nazis treated the Jews and how South Africa treated Blacks.

By threatening them, you’re doing what Nazis wanted back then too

Nah, R55. They would have sided with those who started the war and cried when losing.

Personally, I will never side with terrorist organizations like Hamas and its radical supporters. Fuck them, and fuck Hamas.

R39, I think you have misinterpreted what I was trying to say. Maybe I could have been more precise in my choice of words, but we are saying largely that same thing wrt acting on opinions in youth and in later life.

It’s sort of sad to me that so much is permanent now. You can’t learn from mistakes if you are too fearful to make them.

R24

It's not antisemitism to oppose Israel. It's already done by groups of Jews like the Haredi who are opposed to Zionism and conscription.

You can’t learn from mistakes unless you pay a penalty for making the mistakes.. It’s not the mistakes we learn from it’s the fucking penalties we end up paying.,

Israel needs to leave them traditional Jews alone! Let them go fiddle on the roof! Leave em be! Not everyone wants to join the war!

It's ok to be against war right? What is this, a war on peace loving hippies?

Peace advocates always get shit. Just ask Jane Fonda.

[quote]Yes, let’s blame the student by making fun of his black, trans whatever self and ignore the slaughtering in the Middle East.

These same students and activists who urged everyone not to vote for Kamala Harris. They’re all responsible for the current shitshow.

Nah R57 you’re wrong. Your crowd is exactly the type that would censor any discussion or protest of genocidal acts, like what’s being done here. In the context of the holocaust you’d be doing the exact same.

[Quote] Personally, I will never side with terrorist organizations like Hamas and its radical supporters. Fuck them, and fuck Hamas.

Calling out the slaughtering and purposeful starvation of Palestinians by Israel has nothing to do with siding with Hamas

Israel was borne of terrorism so everyone knows it works

Who said anything about not paying penalties, R60? NYU is imposing a penalty. I suspect it’s largely posturing, but it’s still a penalty and the kid took a risk. This will be searchable forever.

It’s possible that the speaker may end up enjoying more benefits from those who agree with him than he suffers from penalties, but there are penalties.

Shouldn’t this black tranny be more concerned about the literal genocide against black trannies we’re always being told to be outraged about??

I it’s really rich that NYU is getting huffy when the lions share of every college course these days interprets every subject through a lens of “decolonization,” slavery and gender. He must have been speaking at one of the smaller college ceremonies Wednesday. At another one, a graduate went up to receive her diploma and unfurled a Palestinian flag from under her gown.

[quote]Is Logan a MTF or FTM? Not being cunty, so hard to tell nowadays.

It’s a straight woman pretending to be a man.

Let's kill the messanger, shall we?

Who cares who he is? Focusing on him, of course, distracts from the actual problem--genocide

He's too short! He's too tall! He's too white! He's too brown! He's too gay! He's too straight! He's too trans! He's too ugly! He's too good looking! He's too thin! He's too fat!

...and Israel keeps starving Palestinian kids to death...

Maybe Palestine shouldn’t have fucked around in October 2023. They’re finding out.

I have no sympathy for the speaker, in the sense that, I'm speculating he knew this was a possibility before he spoke and decided to to it anyway. In fact, I speculate he possibly expected this to happen, and knowing it it NOT a good look for the University, might have already hatched a plan to put in place if/when it did happen.

We'll see what he does now!

In lieu of sympathy, I'm offering my admiration for his courage.

His parents paid a lot of fk'ing money for that degree!!

R73 once again, you have no proof he paid a penny of tuition. Even greedy NYU gives full tuition scholarships people like this young person. I don't know this young person. He could be the child of millionaire doctors. In which case they did pay.

[quote] Yet nary a peep about the 2,000 Israelis slaughtered on Oct. 6th.

The response has not been exactly proportionate, in keeping with Israel's history.

[quote] You can’t learn from mistakes unless you pay a penalty for making the mistakes.. It’s not the mistakes we learn from it’s the fucking penalties we end up paying.

So utterly WISE, PROFOUND, and WRONG.

You're the one who is wrong, r76.

That's probably why you're shrieking in all-caps.

Is it a mistake to wish Israel would stop it's shit and nonsense at this point, or is the only realistic goal a constant occupation of Gaza? Seriously, is there not other alternative in the minds of the "Israel is always right" brigade?

I'm sure the poster appreciates your support of their ignorant plain-spun flyover wisdom, R77.

More. Tranny. Drama.

Just add anti-Semitism and victimhood!

Nah, I'm good.

[quote]The response has not been exactly proportionate, in keeping with Israel's history.

Are you quoting from The Terrorist's Rulebook, or something?

Provoking a terrorist attack against a couple thousand innocent people and breaking the cease fire that was in place against a super power wasn't such a wise move after all was it? They literally begged for this response and they certainly got it! Now they're working a victim narrative! Overwhelming force is the only way to deal with these Hamas sponsored terrorists. The Kampus Keffiyeh Karens should butt out.

So at this point it must never, ever end r81? Cause, revenge can never be enough? Or can it?

And yeah, I know I might be banned for this, cause Muriel is a fucking cunt about this shit, but seriously, enough is never enough when it comes to Israel seeking revenge? Ever?

It has been going on since 1967 at least and "Palestine" ( an identity created by Arafat) responds to EVERY two-state solution the same way, "Death to Israel!"

I've been following this for over forty years, and at some point, you start to see the problem.

Genocide my ass

I'd have more sympathy for him if he wasnt unwittingly doing the bidding of the Iranian regime and Qatar.... neither of which are exactly LGBTQI friendly.

And yeah, this whole Palestine was invented. No shit. Hey you know what else was invented? Israel. It was invented as a "resurrected" country that never actually existed before 1948. We all get that, we all accepted it (well, some of us) but it is completely artificial and it's silly to pretend that some kinda sorta country that existed as a couple of ancient kingdoms over 2000 years ago just HAS to be brought back to life. We all know that, we all went along with it, cause of the Holocaust, but it's no more real than modern Palestine. So can everybody stop pretending their make-believe country is real while insisting that nobody else gets to have make-believe countries?

It was the ceremony for Gallatin, the fake school for dumb rich kids for which NYU admissions is very forgiving. As noted: B-list.

And before the rancid cunts get me temp banned, yes, you are actually allowed to disagree with Israel, yes even on an American campus. Yes, cunts, we know you want to ban that and any discussion of that, but it's something that can still happen and still be allowed to happen. Your rancid cunt fuckery does not prevent it. Sorry.

funny, you can see the fuckery happening, without actually having to see it.

the horror of disagreement, followed by the silence, and then the strike. Suppress the Dissenter! Make it stop! Make it go away! No disagreement ever, it must not be allowed! It's too traumatic, it must cease!

This person made a promise not to give a political a speech and submitted a fake speech without the anti-Israel/Pro Hamas rant.

She thought she was being clever and played herself, but got all the attention she craved which was the whole idea!

so nobody wants to defend Israel's current actions? We just want to talk about age-old grievances? Nobody wants to say, yes, Israel is actually doing the right thing, here and now? Nobody?

[quote]Mr Rozos is described as an "actor, artist, and gay Black trans man".

All these transgenders are mere actors.

It's all performative.

[quote]Is it a mistake to wish Israel would stop it's shit and nonsense at this point, or is the only realistic goal a constant occupation of Gaza? Seriously, is there not other alternative in the minds of the "Israel is always right" brigade?

Yes r78 the alternative is for Hamas to SURRENDER. And give the hostages back, the war would be over.

Hamas needs to lay down its arms. Nobody gives Hamas any credit for its own agency in this situation. It’s all, well, how much revenge does Israel need.

It’s not revenge or retribution to ensure the safety of Israelis. As long as Hamas is active, the residents of Israel won’t be safe.

Oh, and that little brat made the graduation all about her political opinions—for what? That’s not what graduation is for. What a bore.

Well, giving the hostages back would clearly NOT end it r94, as Netanyahu has made very clear. He doesn't really give a fuck about the hostages at this point, as again, he has made very clear. What he wants is to eradicate Hamas, and it's not really very clear how he can do that without destroying everybody in Gaza who supports Hamas, and as we know, that may be most of them. How do you eliminate a government without eliminating all the people who support that government, or at least everyone who submits to it?

And maybe he shouldn't have given that speech, but can we all not pretend that people object to politics at graduations? That's complete horseshit and fuckery. We ONLY object to politics we disagree with, ever. Don't even bother to pretend otherwise. I won't believe you for five seconds.

His speech had no context; it's shameless showboating. And it's all about his feelings.

And you'd have been stamping your feet and clapping like a motherfucker if his speech had been all about the wonder that is Netanyahu and Israel r96. Don't lie.

[quote] His speech had no context; it's shameless showboating. And it's all about his feelings.

It's hard to believe a black trans man in NYU would do that!

Another side issue addressed. Congratulations. Let us never, ever address what he's actually talking about. That would take intelligence, and that must never be allowed to happen, cause cunts gotta cunt, now and forever.

Wow. SO much hatred being expressed here -on both sides...

Both Israel and Palestine have committed atrocities, war crimes, and unbelievably cruel acts. I'm on neither side. I feel for all the innocent people whose lives have been lost or torn apart by actions on both sides. I have both Jewish and Muslim relatives, and am neither anti-semitic nor Islamophobic. People argue over who is worse, or who started it -but what really matters is what can be done to stop it. I firmly believe both sides would resort to genocide if they could.

The whole "a gay, black, trans man would be killed in Gaza" meme means nothing. Gay, black, trans people are killed here in the US, too, and many people don't care at all -including law enforcement and government entities. We have a lot to fix at home before we can fix other people and places...

This guy was a stupid fucking idiot and is getting what he deserves. He ruined everyone's graduation.

Now he can learn how the real world works, where there's consequences for your actions.

Stop referring to this person as gay. It’s a straight woman playing dress-up.

The 99% of all trans are straight expert has arrived on thread.

R102 is correct. This person is a woman, who claims to be a gay man, i.e. she is a heterosexual woman, a woman attracted apparently exclusively to men.

Is expressing political views a violation of the graduation speech? We don't have them in the UK.

By custom, student commencement speeches are the most anodyne thing you can imagine. This speaker did not deliver the speech that had been submitted in advance—and veered way off course, like a Mexican training vessel.

Well, Mr. Rozos sure gave us an earful! I’ll brace for another high-decibel reckoning at his Columbia MFA graduation—where he’ll hijack the mike to connect the Chicken Genocide to Gaza with chilling precision: mass caging, aerial control, global silence, and my own complicity. Pass the prosecco.

Actually, I just read that it was one short added para. Stupid and useless—yes…but not an entire speech of b.s.

oops. the mic. not the mike 🤡

[quote]It's hard to believe a black trans man in NYU would do that!

It's hard to believe a GAY black trans man in NYU would do that!

Might as well give him his diploma. As a self identified gay trans black man, he won't be getting anything that resembles a career in his lifetime.

[Quote] And you'd have been stamping your feet and clapping like a motherfucker if his speech had been all about the wonder that is Netanyahu and Israel [R96]. Don't lie.

R97 I doubt Logan knows who Netanyahu is or that he could even find Gaza on a map. He's merely parroting what he has heard over the last year and a half on campus. There's nothing new or insightful in his address.

Agreed, r110, but she wasn't ever planning on working anyway.

None of them work. They are too busy attention getting and grifting off of that.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.