Xavier University of Louisiana, an HBCU in New Orleans, became the second school to cancel United Nations Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield’s speech amid student protests in Gaza.
The institution reversed its choice of commencement speaker after pressure from students and the community over Thomas-Greenfield’s UN voting record.
University President Reynold Verret announced the news in an email Wednesday.
“Everyone’s goal is to have a graduation ceremony that appropriately honors the graduates and their achievements,” Verret wrote in the email, according to WGNO. “The vast majority of students want to be able to enjoy an uninterrupted graduation ceremony. Therefore, we will not move forward with the commencement speaker as originally planned.”
The school initially revealed that Thomas-Greenfield would be the commencement speaker last Sunday. Following Sunday’s news about the speaker schedule, nearly 1,800 people signed a petition demanding a new commencement speaker.
“Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield has repeatedly voted against a ceasefire in Gaza, resulting in the decimation of all 13 universities in Gaza, the loss of over 30,000 lives, with thousands more remaining in the rubble due to the violence, and the continuation of genocide in Gaza, ” the petition it says. “Palestinians in Gaza draw on the experiences of their brothers and sisters in America during the era of segregation.”
The student-led petition asked the university to bring in a commencement speaker who would “represent” the school’s mission statement and “end the politicization of our graduation ceremony.”
The Louisiana HBCU is the second school, after the University of Vermont (UVM), to make the decision.
Suresh Garimella, president of UVM, announced the decision in an email to the university community.
“It is with regret that I share that our planned speaker, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, will not be joining us to deliver the commencement address,” Garimella said in the email.
Pro-Palestine protesters on college campuses across the country have shown their discontent with President Biden and the way his administration has handled the Israel-Hamas war and the humanitarian crisis affecting Palestinians in Gaza.
The Hill reached out to Xavier University of Louisiana.
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