Fetterman removes Harvard hood in protest during Yeshiva University commencement speech

Sen John Fetterman removed his Harvard University hood while making a speech at Yeshiva University’s commencement on Thursday in protest of the school’s handling of antisemitism.

Fetterman was honored with the Presidential Medallion for his unwavering support of Israel at the ceremony on Wednesday. The medallion, a high honor from the New York City-based Orthodox Jewish University, was last year awarded to Daniel Gold, the inventor of Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system.

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“I don’t belong in that company, I truly don’t, I really don’t,” Fetterman said of Gold during a speech at the commencement. “I’m just a senator with a big mouth that happens to be committed to standing with Israel.”

Fetterman, who graduated with his master’s in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School in 1999, wore his Harvard graduation hood on stage at the beginning of his speech. But he said he has been “profoundly disappointed” in “Harvard’s inability to stand up for the Jewish community after Oct. 7,” and said it’s not right for him to wear the hood on Wednesday. He removed it, and the crowd stood up and cheered.

Harvard, like the University of Pennsylvania and other schools that have seen heated protest over Israel’s war with Hamas, has been scrutinized over the past year for its handling of antisemitism on campus.

The conversation over what constitutes antisemitism and what is criticism of Israel and its government has become a point of tension on campuses and in Washington, where lawmakers are pushing to expand the definition of antisemitism to include certain criticisms of Israel.

In March 2023, The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law filed a complaint with the university over what they called antisemitic and anti-Israel behavior toward Israeli students. Now, the center is suing Harvard for leaving antisemitism unaddressed on campus.

Additionally, the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce determined that the university ignored recommendations from an advisory committee created to address antisemitism after Oct. 7.

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Harvard University President Claudine Gay resigned in January after a congressional hearing where she failed to say that calls on campus for the genocide of Jews would unequivocally violate university policy, as well as plagiarism accusations. Former University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill had just resigned in December after using similar language to Gay when she was similarly pressed by members of Congress, saying it would depend on the context.

At Wednesday’s commencement, Fetterman said that he was wearing a wristband from the Nova music festival that Hamas rampaged on Oct. 7, which he said was given to him by a family of a hostage that was taken that day.

“It’s a constant reminder of the horrors of that day,” Fetterman said. “The Jewish community everywhere deserves our support.”

He said he won’t stop speaking out until every hostage is returned home, and was met with another standing ovation. Fetterman is not Jewish and his staff has said he has never been to Israel, according to Vanity Fair.

Fetterman also said in his speech that voting for billions of aid to Israel without any conditions was one of his proudest moments as a senator, “to allow Israel to push back that kind of singular evil force.” While Congress didn’t attach conditions to the April aid package, Biden signed an order in February that attached human rights conditions to U.S. military aid.

After saying his heart is with hostages and Israeli soldiers, Fetterman also said that he grieves for innocent Palestinian children and women “that Hamas is responsible for taking.”