Cases

CUNY Commencement Censorship

CUNY Law and College of Staten Island are caving to the Trump administration and muzzling students during their 2026 graduation ceremony, by forcing them to pre-record censored speeches and stand mute on stage while these are played.

CUNY Law School Commencement is May 21st  ·  College of Staten Island Commencement is May 28th

Please sign and distribute the student petitions for The College of Staten Island and CUNY Law.

• Rolling Phone Campaign

  Call senior administration offices to say that we believe the censoring of student commencement speakers is cowardice in the face of surging fascism and genocide. Demand that there be in-person student commencement speakers.

  • Law School Interim Dean Natalie Gomez Velez: (718) 340-4521
  • CSI President Timothy Lynch: (718) 982-2400
• Paper Letter Mail Campaign

  Write to the College of Staten Island of the City University of New York (CUNY) president, the CUNY Chancellor, and/or the CUNY Law School President. Mailing addresses here. Sample letter language here and here.

  Consider mailing “live speaker recommendations” with printouts of commencement speeches that mention Palestine and/or the genocide.

• Student Group Outreach for Social Media Campaigns

  Contact student groups to get what is happening at CUNY (both campuses) out on social media. Groups can collaborate with CUNY Law Dispatch and they will reshare: @cunylawdispatch

• Media Outreach — Regional, National, Professional, International

  Tell the media about this case!