Stanford Students Protest During Commencement

Hundreds of Stanford University students staged a walkout during their commencement ceremony on Sunday. The target of the protest was Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, who was the speaker for the event.

Local reports indicated that approximately 200 students left their seats as Pichai began speaking. Many of these students carried Palestinian flags during the protest.

The protest appeared to be linked to Google’s involvement in “Project Nimbus,” a $1.2 billion cloud contract in partnership with Amazon, associated with the Israeli government. Announced in 2021, the deal has faced criticism from anti-Israel groups.

Stanford University has previously seen protests against Israel at commencement speeches.

Despite the demonstration, Pichai’s speech largely steered clear of controversial topics such as international conflicts or artificial intelligence. This approach was notably different from a recent commencement speech by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who was booed at the University of Arizona for discussing AI. Instead, Pichai emphasized the importance of optimism.

“This might not ring true to you at this moment,” Pichai stated. “The world is going through a lot: global conflicts, economic anxiety, a rewiring of technology, information overload, all at a fast pace. It’s easy to look at the news of the day and think that we’re living in uniquely challenging times.”

He encouraged graduates to remember that each generation faces its own challenges. “We don’t get to choose the world we graduate into, but we do get to choose how we frame our circumstances,” he added.

Pichai is not the first commencement speaker to face protests at Stanford. Last year, students also walked out during a speech by Katie Ledecky, objecting to the university’s alleged “complicity” in Israel’s actions in Gaza.

In 2024, anti-Israel protesters occupied the office of Stanford’s president and held a separate “People’s Commencement” to express solidarity with Palestine.

Stanford has been one of several universities criticized for its response to anti-Israel demonstrations. In 2024, protesters occupied offices of the university’s president and provost, leading to vandalism.