Michigan Commencement Praise for Pro‑Palestinian Activists Prompts Apology and Faculty Backlash

Overview

• At the University of Michigan’s main graduation, faculty leader Derek R. Peterson urged the crowd to “sing for the pro‑Palestinian student activists” and said they revealed “the injustice and inhumanity of Israel’s war in Gaza.”
• University president Domenico Grasso apologized within hours, calling the remarks “hurtful and insensitive.”
• More than a thousand faculty members signed an open letter pressing Grasso to retract the apology.
• Peterson and his supporters argued critics relied on a short clip, and he posted the full speech online to encourage people to judge it in context.
• The dispute has become part of a wider fight over Israel‑Gaza speech on campuses, with similar commencement flare‑ups reported at Rutgers and Georgetown and no formal discipline announced so far.