U Mass Commencement Speaker Withdraws after U Mass Call Police on Protesters

MASSACHUSETTS—
Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Colson Whitehead withdraws as commencement speaker at University of Massachusetts Amherst after cops were called on student protesters.

In a social media post, he shared part of the letter he sent to the university. Whitehead wrote, “I was looking forward to speaking next week at UMass Amherst…But calling the cops on peaceful protesters is a shameful act. I have to withdraw as your commencement speaker. I give all my best wishes and congratulations to the class of ’24 and pray for the safety of the Palestinian people, the return of the hostages, and an end to this terrible war.”

Whitehead, who penned The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys, is not the first author to back out of a recent graduation speech in solidarity with pro-Palestine student protesters.

Last month, Booker Prize-nominated novelist C Pam Zhang and MacArthur Fellow Safiya Noble cancelled their speaking engagements at University of Southern California commencement ceremonies following the university’s poor handling of protests.U