The Rutgers School of Engineering canceled Rami Elghandour’s convocation speech.
Photo by Isaiah Vazquez/Getty Images
The Rutgers University at New Brunswick School of Engineering canceled a pro-Palestinian alumnus as its convocation speaker after, the university says, some graduating students complained about his social media posts.
In March, the school’s website published an “Alumni Spotlight” interview with Rami Elghandour, chairman and chief executive officer of biotechnology company Arcellx. The piece touted his social justice and humanitarian advocacy and noted he was an executive producer of The Voice of Hind Rajab, an Oscar-nominated film about a Gazan girl killed by Israeli forces in the recent war.
Elghandour was set to speak at the school’s May 15 convocation, but the school canceled. In a statement to Inside Higher Ed, the university said the “School of Engineering was recently informed that some graduating students would not attend their graduation ceremony due to concerns about the invited speaker’s social media posts, including one that shared an inflammatory claim.” The university pointed to an April 20 post on X.
In it, Elghandour replied to a post by U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, that said, “The free ride is over. Israel has a $45 billion defense budget. I am Team America.”
Elghandour responded, “Forget a free ride. They’ve committed genocide. They’re running dungeons where they train dogs to sexually assault prisoners … Weapons embargo is the absolute minimum. Sanctions and diplomatic isolation are beyond justified. This we’ll sell them weapons won’t fly.”
The university’s statement said that, “after discussing these concerns with the speaker, the School of Engineering has rescinded” the invitation, adding, “This decision keeps the focus on our engineering students and honors the celebratory spirit of the event to ensure that no graduate feels forced to choose between their personal convictions and a convocation ceremony.”
In his own statement on X, Elghandour wrote, “Rutgers chose me in part because of my humanitarian work,” putting his executive producer role on the film “front and center.”
“They led with my social justice advocacy. Until it was inconvenient,” he wrote. “That’s the difference between virtue signaling and principles. One withstands challenge. The other wilts in the slightest breeze.”
Elghandour added in a statement Wednesday that he learned about the specific concerns related to his social media posts via the press.
He’s planning to record his speech and posting it, telling graduates he hopes it “leads you to be better leaders than those who let you down.”