Professor's speech praising pro-Palestinian students sparks backlash at University of Michigan

The University of Michigan has issued a formal apology after a history professor lauded pro-Palestinian student protesters in a commencement speech over the weekend.

The remarks — and the ensuing apology — have set off cascading recriminations, with pro-Israel advocates calling to slash the school's funding as others accuse university officials of bowing to political and donor pressure.

In a speech on Saturday at the universitywide commencement ceremony, Derek R. Peterson, a professor of East African history and outgoing chair of the faculty senate, credited "pro-Palestinian student activists who have over these past two years opened our hearts to the injustice and inhumanity of Israel’s war in Gaza.”

The comments followed Peterson’s praise for Moritz Levi, the first Jewish professor at the University of Michigan, among others who he said had advanced causes of justice through the school’s history.

Within hours, video of the pro-Palestinian portion of Peterson’s speech had widely circulated online, drawing condemnations from Jewish groups, who allege that campus protests against Israel created a hostile environment for some students.

The same day, the university’s president, Domenico Grasso, issued a public apology, saying the comments were “inappropriate and do not represent our institutional position.”

“We regret the pain this has caused on a day devoted to celebration and accomplishment,” Grasso said, adding that Peterson's speech “deviated from the remarks he had shared before the ceremony.”

The swift apology did not stop some Republican officials, including Florida Sen. Rick Scott, from calling for the school to be stripped of federal funding. A Republican member of the Board of Regents, which governs the public university, also hinted at possible discipline for the professor. The prominent Israeli-American investor Adam Milstein urged Jewish people to halt any donations to the school.

Peterson said he stood by the comments, calling it “ridiculous” to expect that graduations be apolitical.

“Michigan is not a finishing school for polite young men and women,” he said in a statement. “They do not need sentimental, cloying nostalgia. They need encouragement to face a flawed and unjust world head on, using the tools we’ve given them: critical reasoning, careful research, sympathy for the oppressed.”

Peterson also accused the administration of scrubbing the speech from the internet. A university spokesperson said it had been temporarily removed by YouTube over a music copyright issue and was back online.

In a joint letter published Tuesday, a coalition of academic labor groups — including the American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers — condemned the university’s statement.

“Institutional leaders have an obligation not only to tolerate faculty speech, but to defend it — especially in the face of external political pressure,” the letter read.

The speech came two years after protests against the war in Gaza erupted across college campuses, leading to canceled speeches and other disruptions to the springtime commencement ritual. Michigan's campus saw students form a campground and walk out from classes in protest of the war.

A handful of students at U.S. universities also faced discipline in 2025 for seeking to highlight pro-Palestinian issues at graduation ceremonies, including a graduate of New York University whose diploma was withheld for criticizing Israel in a speech.