On May 17, 2025, Cecilia Culver stepped onto the commencement stage at George Washington University’s Columbian College of Arts and Sciences and decided the moment belonged to her. In a six-minute address to an audience of 750 people, she accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, called on her fellow graduates to withhold donations to the institution, condemned the university’s financial ties to Israel, and said she was “ashamed to know my tuition is being used to fund this genocide.” The fundamental detail: GW had pre-approved her speech, and none of those remarks were in it. Culver submitted one text and delivered another.

Barely 24 hours later, Ernst & Young — where Culver had worked for only five months — locked her out of her work email and placed her on administrative leave. The stated reason, according to the company’s own written notice, was that the action was taken “in connection with your speech at the George Washington University commencement.” Four days after she filed an internal discrimination complaint, EY terminated her employment. No policy violation was identified. No investigation had been conducted. No hearing was offered. Culver is now suing GW, EY, and more than a dozen officials from both institutions for $5 million, alleging emotional distress, professional ostracization, and violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the D.C. Human Rights Act.

The episode at GW did not occur in a vacuum. Last weekend, at the University of Michigan’s spring commencement, Faculty Senate Chair Derek Peterson — a history and African studies professor and MacArthur “genius grant” recipient — used his address to praise........

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