Protesting Punishing a Commencement Address on Palestine at George Washington U.

Ellen Granberg

President, George Washington University 

president@gwu.edu …

 

Dear President Granberg and Ms. Speights:

 

We write on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic Freedom to express our grave concern about the decision of the administration of the George Washington University (GWU) to ban graduating senior Cecilia Culver from campus and threaten to investigate her for possible student conduct code violations. GWU’s administration took these actions in response to remarks Culver made about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and about university policy as the student speaker at GWU’s commencement on 17 May 2025. Your university’s actions constitute an egregious violation of the right to free speech and of academic freedom, and they also make a mockery of GWU’s avowed commitment to foster an environment in which its students, faculty and staff can freely share their opinions on matters of public concern.

 

MESA was founded in 1966 to promote scholarship and teaching on the Middle East and North Africa. The preeminent organization in the field, the Association publishes the prestigious International Journal of Middle East Studies and has nearly 2,800 members worldwide. MESA is committed to ensuring academic freedom and freedom of expression both within the region and in connection with the study of the region in North America and outside of North America.

 

Culver’s commencement address included the following remarks:

 

For over a year, we have watched a genocide be committed against Palestinians. I cannot celebrate my own graduation without a heavy heart, knowing how many students in Palestine have been forced to stop their studies, expelled from their homes, and killed for simply remaining in the country of their ancestors. … I am ashamed to know my tuition is being used to fund this genocide. … Despite repeated calls to disclose all endowments and investments by the university and divest from the apartheid state of Israel, the administration has refused. Instead, they have repressed anyone with the courage to point out the blood on their hand. … I call upon the class of 2025 to withhold donations and continue advocating for disclosure and divestment. None of us are free until Palestine is free.

 

A statement issued by your administration characterized Culver’s remarks as “inappropriate and dishonest: the speaker submitted and recited in rehearsal very different remarks than those she delivered at the ceremony” and announced that she “has been barred from all GW’s campuses and sponsored events elsewhere. … We are investigating this matter immediately, including whether event protocols were followed properly and whether the students’ actions violated the Code of Conduct.”

 

We regard Culver’s banning, and the threat of disciplinary action against her, as an unjustifiable overreaction on the part of GWU. We note that it is in fact quite common for commencement speakers at colleges and universities in the United States to share their views on issues of current concern. It would seem that GWU is unwilling to tolerate the expression of certain views when it comes to Israel’s war on Gaza, the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the issue of divestment by US universities. We remind you that we have written before to express our concerns about GWU’s infringement of the academic freedom and freedom of speech of students and faculty who have advocated for Palestinian rights, for example here and here.

 

We call on GWU to immediately rescind the banning of Cecilia Culver, refrain from disciplinary proceedings or action against her and apologize to her for the distress its actions and threats have caused her. We further call on GWU to respect and uphold the principles of academic freedom and freedom of speech that it claims to embrace, even when the exercise of those freedoms result in the expression of opinions some may find controversial.

 

We look forward to your response.

 

Sincerely,

 

Aslı Ü. Bâli 

MESA President

Professor, Yale Law School

 

Laurie A. Brand
Chair, Committee on Academic Freedom
Professor Emerita, University of Southern California