Question Israel at Your Own Risk. The University of Michigan Graduation Speech, 2026

Send us Fan MailDerek Peterson, Chair of the UM Faculty Senate, was asked to deliver remarks to the 2026 graduating class.  He focused upon the tradition of protest on campus, going back to the period after the Civil War.  Everything was ducky until he got to protests against the Gaza War.  Well, you can listen to what happened after that. My approach was to read the statements of the various parties to this dispute, and to same my own thoughs until the end.  Update:  In the end, I decided to read the full (rather long) statement by the 1100 faculty and staff rather than excerpts.  My wife thought that any attempt to edit it down would change it in some way, and detract from its purpose.  I agreed.