New York University is withholding Logan Rozos' diploma.

Why? Because Logan Rozos condemned Israel’s genocide in Gaza during his graduation commencement speech.

Now lawyer and law professor Faisal Kutty has sent a letter calling on NYU to "reinstate Logan Rozos’ diploma" and "issue a public apology."

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Mr. John Beckman
Senior Vice President for Public Affairs and Strategic Communications
New York University
Office of Public Affairs
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012

CC:
President Linda G. Mills – president@nyu.edu
NYU Board of Trustees – boardoftrustees@nyu.edu
Office of the Provost – provost@nyu.edu
Gallatin Dean’s Office – gallatin.dean@nyu.edu
University Relations – university.relations@nyu.edu
Office of Equal Opportunity – oeo@nyu.edu

RE: NYU’s Retaliation Against Logan Rozos for Condemning Genocide

Dear Mr. Beckman,

I write to you not only as legal counsel but as a law professor and advocate for civil liberties, academic freedom, and international human rights. I am deeply disturbed by New York University’s decision to withhold the diploma of Gallatin valedictorian Logan Rozos following his brief but courageous acknowledgment of the ongoing atrocities in Palestine during his commencement address.

There are moments in history when institutions are tested—not for their administrative efficiency or procedural compliance—but for their moral clarity. This was one such moment, and NYU failed.

The notion that Mr. Rozos committed some form of institutional betrayal by deviating from an approved speech is both legally weak and ethically shameful. Graduation is not a corporate press conference. It is a milestone marking intellectual growth, moral reflection, and personal courage. It is precisely the moment when students should speak truthfully and fearlessly—especially in defense of human rights.

Let us be absolutely clear: there is now overwhelming legal, scholarly, and humanitarian recognition that Israel is perpetrating genocide in Gaza.

- Amnesty International concluded in December 2024 that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, citing acts including mass killings, infliction of serious harm, and calculated conditions designed to destroy the population,

- Human Rights Watch has found Israel responsible for “acts of genocide” and the crime of extermination through policies like water deprivation and destruction of essential infrastructure.

- A group of 12 UN Special Rapporteurs has issued an emergency declaration that the world faces a defining choice: "End the unfolding genocide or watch it end life in Gaza.”

- The Boston University School of Law’s International Human Rights Clinic, in collaboration with Yale, Cornell, and the University of Pretoria, issued a methodical report concluding that Israel has met every element of genocide as defined under international law.

- Even scholars previously reluctant to use the term—such as Israeli genocide researcher Shmuel Lederman and Holocaust scholar Raz Segal—now openly state that a consensus has emerged: Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute genocide.

Against this backdrop, Mr. Rozos’ speech was not a radical departure from acceptable discourse; it was a brave articulation of a widely held truth. That NYU would punish such moral clarity under the guise of procedural deviation is not only antithetical to academic freedom—it is morally indefensible.

Would NYU have similarly penalized a student for condemning South African apartheid? Or Nazi genocide? To demand “balance” in the face of ethnic cleansing and mass slaughter is not neutrality—it is complicity.

Let me be clear: dissent is not a disruption of academic life—it is the very evidence of a healthy one. Logan Rozos did not shame NYU. He dignified it. Your administration’s response, on the other hand, will be studied in law and history classes as a textbook example of institutional cowardice in the face of moral clarity.

I urge NYU to reconsider this punitive stance, reinstate Logan Rozos’ diploma without delay, and issue a public apology. The world is watching. Your treatment of this young man may well define your institution’s legacy in this moment of global reckoning.

Rather than punish and shame this young man, NYU should be honoring him. Instead, your administration has chosen to sacrifice its integrity at the altar of appeasement and censorship. In doing so, NYU has not only betrayed one of its brightest graduates—it has betrayed its mission.

Sincerely,

Faisal Kutty
Associate Professor of Law Emeritus, Valparaiso University
Affiliate Faculty, Rutgers University Center for Security, Race & Rights
Steering Committee Member, Islamophobia Research Hub, York University

Background on Logan Rozos and NYU:

On May 14, 2025, New York University (NYU) graduate Logan Rozos delivered a commencement speech condemning Israel's genocide in Gaza and the U.S. government's complicity in it. But instead of honoring Rozos' courage, NYU responded by attacking him and withholding his diploma.

NYU is shamefully trying to silence political speech against Israel's genocide in Gaza.

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