The CUNY School of Law class of 2026 is organizing to reinstate a student speaker at its upcoming commencement. It has penned an open letter and is asking for support from the CUNY community to sign on to the letter through a Google Form. 

The CUNY School of Law has not had a student speaker at its graduation ceremony since 2023. Fatima Mousa Mohammed, a Yemen-born and Queens-raised CUNY Law student, delivered a commencement speech during the CUNY School of Law’s May 2023 graduation, drawing criticism of her and the CUNY system. Her speech was wrongly labeled as hate speech in a statement by the CUNY Board of Trustees. 

The student speaker at the commencement ceremony for the CUNY School of Law is selected by its peers to represent the graduating class. The CUNY Law Class of 2026 argues that the school is silencing student voices by revoking the student speaker at graduation.

“Following two speakers in 2022 and 2023 who spoke out in defense of Palestinian life, liberation, and self-determination and dared to say Free Palestine, the administration revoked the student speaker,” according to the form. “It is a clear example of silencing student voices and chilling free speech in retaliation for a pro-Palestine viewpoint, as well as a direct affront to free expression at a law school that centers social justice and First Amendment principles.” 

The Professional Staff Congress CUNY union has shown its support for the CUNY Law class of 2026 students in a letter addressed to CUNY Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez and CUNY School of Law Interim Dean Natalie Gomez-Velez.

“We are addressing this letter to you, Interim Dean Gomez-Velez and Chancellor Matos Rodríguez, because we are also concerned that CUNY Law’s revocation of the student speaker may become part of a larger attempt to prevent students from speaking at commencement at other CUNY colleges,” according to the letter.

The CUNY School of Law should support students’ free speech and reinstate a student speaker at its graduation ceremony. 

It would be a harmful precedent for CUNY to set by not allowing student speakers. 

It is important for the graduating class of students to hear from one of their peers about relevant topics that affect their present and future, not just topics the institution approves of.