New York University has decided to use its graduation speech as a platform for controversial political beliefs at its next class of 2026. The school is forcing students to pre-record their commencement addresses to prevent any controversial political statements. This move comes after a student used his graduation speech to condemn "atrocities currently happening in Palestine" and accuse the United States of "complicity in this genocide". Similar incidents have occurred at universities such as George Washington University, Harvard University, and MIT. However, NYU's student newspaper, Washington Square News, reported that a senior set to deliver an address this year was told by a dean that her speech would be "professionally recorded" in an attempt to create a "respectful experience." The university-wide commencement will still feature a live speaker and that the new policy pertains to graduations held for individual schools within the university.