University of Vermont cancels UN ambassador’s speech amid Gaza protests

The University of Vermont (UVM) canceled United Nations Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield’s commencement address amid pro-Palestinian protests on campus, as protests swept colleges across the country.

“We look forward to the upcoming commencement ceremonies and the opportunity to celebrate our 2024 UVM graduates,” university president Suresh Garimella said in a message to the university community obtained Friday by The Hill.

“After years of hard work and commitment to success, they deserve a weekend of ceremony and celebration befitting their accomplishment,” continued Garmimella. “It is with regret that I share that our anticipated speaker, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, will not be joining us to deliver the commencement address.”

An Instagram post from the UVM Students for Justice in Palestine chapter famous cancellation, calling Thomas-Greenfield a “war criminal.”

Pro-Palestinian protesters on college campuses across the country have directed their ire at President Biden and his administration for their handling of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas amid the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The Democratic National Committee’s college outreach arm, College Democrats of America, also expressed solidarity with pro-Palestinian protesters and criticized the White House for its handling of the conflict.

“The White House took the wrong path from a bear hug strategy to [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] and a strategy of indifference to his own base and to all Americans who want to see an end to this war. Every day that Democrats fail to remain united behind a permanent ceasefire, a two-state solution and the recognition of a Palestinian state, more and more young people become disillusioned with the party,” reads a statement from College Democrats.

President Biden criticized aspects of some recent pro-Palestinian protests, including property damage, in prepared remarks at the White House on Thursday.

“Destroying property is not a peaceful protest, it is against the law. Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, closing campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations. None of this is a peaceful protest, threatening people, intimidating people,” Biden said.

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protests have erupted at higher education institutions in recent weeks, leading to hundreds of arrests and causing several universities, including UVM, to adjust their degree plans.