Rutgers Cancels Arcellx CEO Rami Elghandour Graduation Speech Over Student Social Media Concerns

Rutgers University canceled biotech company Arcellx CEO Rami Elghandour’s graduation address at the Rutgers School of Engineering, where he was slated to speak at the May 15 convocation after the dean, Alberto Cuitiño, rescinded his invitation.

“Rutgers unions condemn cancellation of CEO grad speech Two unions representing Rutgers University educators issued a joint statement on Friday condemning the cancellation of a graduation speech by a prominent CEO over his social media posts criticizing Israel”

Bergen Record

The National Desk reported that Rutgers told the newswire the speech was canceled because “some graduating students would not attend their graduation ceremony due to concerns about the invited speaker’s social media posts.”

Bergen Record

Democracy Now! said Elghandour received a call from school administrators about “vague” complaints about his social media posts on Israel and Palestine, and he told the program he found the decision “heartbreaking,” but also “illogical.”

Elghandour, a 2001 Rutgers alum, said the dean told him the posts “oppose the beliefs of a few students,” and he argued that for a class of a thousand students the outcome did not match the complaint.

In The Record, Rutgers spokesperson Dory Devlin said the decision would keep “the focus on our engineering students” and ensure “no graduate feels forced to choose between their personal convictions and a convocation ceremony.”

Two Rutgers unions representing educators issued a joint statement condemning the cancellation, saying the administration’s decision was “politically motivated suppression of expression that undermines rather than advances the free exchange of ideas on our campus.”

In The Record, the unions said the move “clearly reflects a broader pattern of universities applying a Palestine exception to their stated commitments to free speech,” and they called on Cuitiño to reinstate Elghandour as commencement speaker.

Democracy Now!

Elghandour told Democracy Now! that “Having a different point of view is not harming these students in any way to lead to this sort of outcome,” after he said the dean described the issue as his posts “oppose the beliefs of a few students.”

The National Desk reported that Elghandour said the canceled invitation showed the “erosion of free speech and the First Amendment,” and he also said Rutgers “led with my social justice advocacy. Until it was inconvenient.”

Democracy Now! quoted Elghandour adding that the silencing of pro-Palestine speech stems from a “false equivalency” between pro-Israel and pro-Palestine voices, saying “There are two sides, but they couldn’t be more historically different.”

The Record tied the dispute to Rutgers President William F. Tate IV’s earlier stance, quoting the unions’ statement that Tate wrote, “the role of the university is not to prevent discomfort or protect ideology,” and that canceling a voice is “a sign of weakness, not strength.”

“WASHINGTON (TNND) — Rutgers University has canceled a graduation speaker's address over alleged student backlash to his anti-Israel social media posts”

The National Desk

In The National Desk, Rutgers’ dean, Alberto Cuitiño, told Elghandour there would be no new speaker at the graduation and possibly in the future, “to avoid similar issues,” after Elghandour said the dean told him the posts were “opposed to their beliefs.”

Elghandour said his pro-Palestinian advocacy included his role as executive producer of the Oscar-nominated film “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” and The National Desk reported that he noted Rutgers had previously highlighted that connection.

Democracy Now! described Elghandour as an executive producer of “The Voice of Hind Rajab” and said the film is about “the killing of a Palestinian child and her family in Gaza,” alongside paramedics who tried to rescue them.

The Record also reported that Elghandour said Rutgers was shutting down free speech and discourse over complaints from a few students, calling it “frankly un-American,” and he said his speech, which he plans to release publicly, centers on how students can find success while remaining true to their values.