In recent years, supposedly elite universities have been exposed as hotbeds of anti-Semitism. Some of them, at least, have been backpedaling, trying to restore their reputations. New York University may be in this category. But NYU experienced another setback at graduation, when a student named Logan Rozos turned his speech into a pro-Hamas rant.
As usual with such poseurs, he pretended to be acting out of moral compulsion:
Rozos started out by nervously saying, “As I search my heart today in addressing you all, my moral and political commitments guide me to say that the 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 atrocities all occurred on October 7, but Rozos doesn’t mention them. One would like to think that ignoramuses like Rozos represent a small minority, but in hothouse environments like NYU that does not appear to be true:
This was met with heavy applause from the crowd, but Rozos wasn’t done.
More ignorance and hate:
“I want to say that 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,” Rozos continued, his voice cracking at times.
The “genocide” idiocy is typical of this milieu. And the truly horrific livestreams date to October 7, but Rozos evidently didn’t mind them. Perhaps he enjoyed them; he doesn’t say. Rozos continued in the same vein for a while; follow the link if you are a glutton for punishment. The article relates that Rozos received “a warm response from the audience.”
But not from NYU’s administration:
NYU strongly denounces the choice by a student at the Gallatin School’s graduation today—one of over 20 school graduation ceremonies across our campus—to misuse his role as student speaker to express his personal and one-sided political views.
He lied about the speech he was going to deliver and violated the commitment he made to comply with our rules.
That seems like a relevant fact, but it was not considered such by the news outlets whose coverage of Rozos’s speech I have seen. They praised Rozos and disapproved of NYU.
The University is withholding his diploma while we pursue disciplinary actions.
NYU is deeply sorry that the audience was subjected to these remarks and that this moment was stolen by someone who abused a privilege that was conferred upon him.
Presumably Rozos will get his diploma in a week or two, after public attention moves elsewhere.
So, who is Logan Rozos? The Gallatin School says that he “concentrated on Cultural Criticism and Political Economy at NYU Gallatin” and “was a member of the Gallatin Theatre Troupe (GTT), where he directed short and full-length plays and musicals.” We learn elsewhere that Rozos is “an actor, director, writer, and gay Black trans man.” I am not sure what a gay trans man is, but I suspect Rozos inhabits an environment where dumb ideas about politics are more or less mandatory. NYU may be trying to distance itself from that far-left swamp, but it has a long way to go.
