The University of Michigan has denounced a comment made by a faculty leader about the student Israel-Hamas war protesters at Saturday's commencement ceremony after it drew ire from university regents and community members online.

During the ceremony, Faculty Senate Chair Derek Peterson said the student activists had "opened our hearts to the injustice and inhumanity of Israel's war in Gaza."

"At today’s U-M spring commencement ceremony, our outgoing Faculty Senate Chair made remarks regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict that were hurtful and insensitive to many members of our community," President Domenico Grasso said in a Saturday statement. "We regret the pain this has caused on a day devoted to celebration and accomplishment. For this, the university apologizes."

Peterson told The Detroit News on Monday morning that his comments weren't meant to be divisive or controversial. He said he wanted to celebrate the legacy of student activism at the university and felt it would only be right to mention the students who have called for an end to the war and the university's investments in Israel and weapons manufacturing.

"On a day that is meant to honor students, I wanted to honor student activists and how they've shaped the university," he said.

The comment came amid lingering fallout from the protests at the university from late 2023 to early 2025.

Multiple student and community activists faced criminal charges for trespassing and resisting police, including some brought by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. In 2024, the homes of businesses of multiple UM leaders, including former President Santa Ono and board members, were vandalized.

Additionally, at the start of his second term, President Donald Trump's administration included UM on a list of schools to be investigated for potentially allowing antisemitism to proliferate on campus.

Peterson maintained he was trying to celebrate campus activism. In his speech, he relayed a brief history of people fighting against the status quo to make the university what it is today, starting with the women who fought for the right to attend the university. He mentioned the university's acceptance of Jewish students and professors when other universities denied them for their religious beliefs and the Black student activists who pushed for a curriculum that was more reflective of their experience and identity.

Outgoing Board of Regents Chair Mark Bernstein did not respond to a request for comment.

University pushes back

Grasso's statement said Peterson had deviated from the remarks he had shared with the university before the ceremony. The university's president added that the comment was inappropriate and does not represent the institutional position of neutrality.

Regent Sarah Hubbard, a Republican from Okemos, said on X that the comment was "troubling and disappointing," and alluded to disciplinary action for Peterson.

"It is very difficult to execute meaningful consequences on tenured faculty but as a leader I can help set the tone and expectations for their conduct," Hubbard said in the post. "His conduct was unbecoming for a leader of the greatest university in the world.

"As the Board of the university we have an opportunity to make lasting changes that will change the course of this conduct. I look forward to that discussion with my colleagues on the Board of Regents and the university Administration."

Hubbard was not immediately available Monday morning for comment.

Peterson said he was surprised by Grasso's statement and said he wished the president was more committed to protecting the views of faculty, especially those that weren't "unreasonable."

"My comment was framed in a way that was in a way to be as uncontroversial as possible," Peterson said. "If I did it again, I'd likely have expressed sympathy for those who died on Oct. 7, 2023 ... and the students who honored them. But in my view, nothing I said was antisemitic or offensive."

The outgoing Faculty Senate chair added that his statement was fully reviewed by the university. He said the university recommended not referring to the war as a "genocide" or naming student groups, which Peterson did not do, to cause "unnecessary aggravation."

Two Republican board candidates, Michael Schostak and Lena Epstein, questioned why Peterson was allowed to speak at commencement, given his "divisive track record." They said they were disappointed in Peterson's choice to "deliver anti-Israel rhetoric to our graduates, families and a watching world."

Neither Schostak nor Epstein was immediately available for comment.

Amir Makled, one of the Democratic candidates for the board and a Dearborn attorney who represented several student protesters pro bono, said in an email that the university "has a long tradition of students and faculty speaking out on the defining issues of their time, from the Vietnam War teach-ins to movements for civil rights, labor rights, and human rights."

"That is the tradition Professor Peterson’s remarks reflected," Makled's statement continued. "He acknowledged student voices and the role a university plays in fostering open dialogue and critical engagement. Students have been raising serious questions about this university's investments and its commitment to human rights."

Makled said he didn't support any kind of hate, including antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Black racism, but that "protecting students from hate must not come at the expense of suppressing lawful, peaceful expression or avoiding difficult conversations."

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