In less than a week, two universities have rescinded commencement speech invitations to Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the United Nations, over student opposition to US support for Israel during the Gaza war.
Xavier University, a historically Black institution in New Orleans, withdrew its invitation to Ms. Thomas-Greenfield earlier this week, saying in a statement that “some students” had objected to her giving a commencement address. Xavier President Reynold Verret said he was concerned about the potential for disruption during this weekend’s graduation ceremony and concluded that Xavier could no longer host it — a situation he said was “sad.”
Mr Verret added that he looked forward to having Ms Thomas-Greenfield, one of only two black women to hold the position of UN ambassador, to visit the school and speak “in the future”.
The University of Vermont announced last week that Ms. Thomas-Greenfield would not speak there, agreeing to a key request by student protesters who set up camp on campus in Burlington. The school’s president, Suresh Garimella, notified the student body last week that Ms. Thomas-Greenfield would not be speaking at the graduation, writing: “I see and hear you.”
A representative for Ms. Thomas-Greenfield said in a statement that the ambassador looked forward to “continuing to engage with young people on college campuses” and elsewhere, noting that she recently spoke with high school students in Pennsylvania.
Opponents of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which has killed more than 30,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities, have focused their anger on Ms Thomas-Greenfield for leading US efforts at the Security Council to block various resolutions calling for a ceasefire. He argued against the resolutions on the grounds that Hamas, whose October 7 attack on Israel killed 1,200 people, had not agreed to release the hostages it took that day.
Even so, in March the United States abstained from voting on a ceasefire resolution, a sign of the Biden administration’s growing dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of Israel’s war effort. That abstention allowed the resolution to pass the Security Council, breaking a five-month deadlock.
