NEW YORK — Rutgers University has cancelled a planned graduation speech by business leader Rami Elghandour after some students raised concerns about his criticism of Israel on social media.
Elghandour, the CEO of biotech company Arcellx and an alumnus of the New Jersey university, had been set to give the May 15 convocation address at the Rutgers School of Engineering.
That invitation was rescinded after the university learned that “some graduating students would not attend their graduation ceremony due to concerns about the invited speaker’s social media posts,” a Rutgers spokesperson said in a statement.
The spokesperson declined to specify the offending posts, but confirmed they were focused on Israel.
In a response shared on X, Elghandour said it was “disappointing and heartbreaking to see [Rutgers] abandon its students and its ideals.”
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“After a ‘few’ students complained about my selection as speaker because of my social media advocacy for Palestine, Rutgers cancelled my speech,” he wrote, adding, “I have not and will not waver on my principles.”
I love Rutgers and it’s disappointing and heartbreaking to see it abandon its students and its ideals. My full statement. pic.twitter.com/k1cEXlkY2j
— Rami Elghandour (@RamiElghandour) May 6, 2026
Elghandour frequently shares news articles and footage of violence in Gaza and the West Bank, along with his own commentary accusing Israel of committing war crimes and upholding a system of apartheid.
In an August 2025 post on X, Elghandour accused Israel of carrying out “apartheid and genocide in the name of ethnic supremacy.”
Israel insists that it fights in accordance with international law, and has rejected allegations of genocide or other war crimes in its campaign against Hamas. It has noted evacuation warnings sent in advance of airstrikes; efforts, throughout most of the war, to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid; and Hamas’s systematic use of human shields.
In another post from May 2025, Elghandour alleged that Israel was engaged in “land theft, terrorism and ethnic cleansing.” In December 2023, two months after the Hamas-led October 7 attacks on southern Israel, Elghandour equated Israel to the terror group, writing that “both parties engage in atrocities.”
He also served as the executive producer of “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” a documentary about a six-year-old girl allegedly killed by Israeli forces in Gaza in January 2024.
The cancellation came as the springtime commencement season ignited yet another round of debate about student protests against the war in Gaza, which have roiled US campuses in recent years and led to cancelled speeches and disruptions during graduations.
Rami Elghandour speaking at a TEDx event, 2019. (Screen capture: YouTube/TEDx Talks)
Earlier this week, the University of Michigan publicly disavowed a commencement speech delivered by Derek R. Peterson, a history professor, that briefly lauded pro-Palestinian student activists.
That speech sparked threats to strip the university of funding from Republican officials and donors, who said the comments created a hostile environment for Jewish students. The university president’s subsequent apology has drawn condemnation from academic and free-speech groups.
On Tuesday, Elghandour shared a clip on X of Peterson’s speech at the University of Michigan, along with his own caption: “Most people choose convenience. Professor Peterson chose principle. True leadership. Much respect.”
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