The 12,000 or so New York University students who graduated on Thursday made it clear they were in no mood to be told how to think or what to say — not after surviving the turbulence of the last four years.
As their relatives and friends filled Yankee Stadium to the rafters, the graduates gave a huge ovation to a British singer-songwriter, Jacob Collier, who told them, after serenading them with an eclectic rendition of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” to stand firm against the people they will encounter in life who will try to take their voice away.
And they gave only a mixed reception, with some boos, to Jonathan Haidt, a social scientist, who in his writings had called them a coddled and anxious generation, and to Linda Mills, the university president. She had come in the last few years to symbolize the limits on student speech and protest that the university had imposed to control turmoil after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
Still, despite some minor disruptions and a sky that threatened rain, the graduation ceremony accomplished its purpose with music, ceremony and song, conferring degrees to a sea of purple-robed students cheered on by thousands of supporters.
It was also a time for the students to reflect on their time at N.Y.U., which converged with campus tensions that pitted pro-Israel students against pro-Palestinian ones, and the arrival of the second Trump administration with its attacks on higher education and diversity efforts.
Jerry Pan, a Canadian who graduated with a degree in economics, said that he thought N.Y.U. “did the best they could” in handling the tensions.
Aatikah Awan, 22, who graduated with a dual degree in finance and political science, was more conflicted. “I feel ecstatic,” she said, adding that she was particularly glad to have experienced life in New York City. But she said that the university should have done better at handling pro-Palestinian demonstrations and other issues of free speech.
In recent weeks, she had been disappointed that N.Y.U. eliminated live student speeches at the smaller class day celebrations, in part to limit the chance that a student would go off script and say something that would upset graduates or their parents. In 2025, N.Y.U. withheld the diploma of Logan Rozos, the Gallatin School student speaker, after he delivered an unapproved speech condemning the war in Gaza as “genocide” during a graduation ceremony.
“I don’t think they should punish people for having different opinions,” Ms. Awan said. “N.Y.U. can say they back up their students, and that they’re super student-oriented, but they can’t even allow their students to speak freely the way they want.”
Unlike in past years, there were few overt symbols of political activism at the ceremony. Students had been warned not to bring banners, signs or flags. But there was a brief disruption when one student began waving an Israeli flag in the stands, causing other students to tell him to stop.
When security officers declined to remove him, and instead issued a warning, the students around him chanted, “kick him out” loud enough to be heard across the stadium.
Nathan Grossman, 21, identified the student as a good friend and came to his defense, clapping, from a few sections away.
“When I saw him, I decided to come and stand with him and everybody here,” Mr. Grossman, who studied politics, history and philosophy, said. “It’s completely within one’s right to have whatever flag or expressionary device they choose at their own graduations.”
Dr. Haidt, an N.Y.U. faculty member who received an honorary degree, spoke over a smattering of boos, turned backs and student chatter. He focused his remarks on how huge corporations such as Meta have made capturing peoples’ attention a trillion dollar business and advised them to limit their time online.
“If you treasure your attention, and then use it to do hard things in real life, with other people, then — and trust me on this as a social psychologist — your life is going to be amazing,” he told them.
The student speaker, Armaan Gupta, captured the anxiety of students who were graduating into a bleak job market. During his speech, he took the time to network, albeit quickly.
“If anyone’s hiring, please connect with me on LinkedIn,” Mr. Gupta said. The student section erupted in nods, cheers and laughs.
But it was Mr. Collier, the 31-year-old musician who also received an honorary degree, who came the closest of any of the speakers to acknowledging the challenges over expression that the students had encountered during their time at the university.
“As you well know, there are some people in this world, fearful people, who feel powerful when your voice is taken away, who will try to make your voice small,” he said. “They will speak down to you. They will try to silence you, and there is a lot of that happening in the world right now.”
“But a real leader knows that real power comes from making the people around you feel powerful,” he told them, to elated whoops.
Sharon Otterman is a Times reporter covering higher education, public health and other issues facing New York City.
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