Who is Megha M Vemuri? Indian-origin student who accused MIT of backing Gaza genocide banned from graduation commencement

Indian-American student Megha M Vemuri, who accused the Massachusetts Institute of Technology of supporting the Gaza genocide, was not allowed to attend her graduation commencement ceremony on Thursday and was banned from the campus.

Vemuri, who is MIT Class of 2025 president, was scheduled to be the marshal at the ceremony. However, her remarks during the previous speech led to the university chancellor Melissa Nobles banning the student and her family from the college campus.

"MIT supports free expression but stands by its decision, which was in response to the individual deliberately and repeatedly misleading Commencement organizers and leading a protest from the stage, disrupting an important Institute ceremony," the university said in a statement.

Who is Megha M Vemuri?

Megha M Vemuri, who was born and raised in Georgia's Alpharetta, graduated from Alpharetta High School in 2021. She compelted her UG in compute science, neuroscience and linguistics recently. Previously, she did a research internship at UCT Neuroscience Institute in Cape Town, South Africa. She led the 'Written Revolution' initiative advocating for global causes.

Following Vemuri's speech, several Jewish students, including those from Israel, stormed out of the ceremony venue.

In a video posted by MIT, Vemuri says the Israeli forces are the only foreign military having ties with MIT and claimed that the institute is aiding and abetting the assault on Palestinian people. "Last spring, MIT’s undergraduate body and graduate student union voted overwhelmingly to cut ties with the genocidal Israeli military. You called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. And you stood in solidarity with the pro-Palestine activists on campus," she said.

"You faced threats, intimidation and suppression coming from all directions, especially your own university officials. But you prevailed, because the MIT community that I know would never tolerate a genocide," she added.

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