Kenneth Glad
The commencement speaker choice drew objections before graduates gathered at Yankee Stadium. The debate centered on whether the selected professor reflected the class and the moment.
New York University’s decision to name social psychologist Jonathan Haidt as its 2026 all-university commencement speaker brought a formal objection from the Student Government Assembly.
According to The New York Times, student leaders asked NYU officials to reconsider the invitation before the ceremony.
In its own statement, the NYU Student Government Assembly said some students felt “disappointment, disgust, unenthusiasm, defeat, and embarrassment.”
The assembly criticized Haidt’s public positions on diversity, equity and inclusion, antiracism, and social justice. It said its request did not oppose academic freedom, but questioned whether Haidt was the right figure for commencement.
Grayson Stevenson told The New York Times: “I don’t think that students saying that the speaker doesn’t represent our values is the same thing as students being incapable of hearing opposing viewpoints.”
Supporters defended Haidt’s record
Supporters defended Haidt’s record
Haidt, an NYU professor and author of “The Coddling of the American Mind” and “The Anxious Generation,” has argued that schools and universities often leave young people poorly prepared for difficult ideas.
In “The Coddling of the American Mind,” written with Greg Lukianoff, he argues that young people have been taught to avoid emotional discomfort instead of learning how to confront disagreement, setbacks, and upsetting ideas.
The book helped make Haidt a prominent voice in debates over campus speech, student fragility, and whether universities should protect students from offensive views or expose them to difficult ones.
NYU spokesman Wiley Norvell told The New York Times that the university would continue with Haidt, calling him “one of the most consequential scholars of the 21st century.”
Pamela Paresky, who worked on research connected to “The Coddling of the American Mind,” told The New York Times: “He’s always been very good about reflecting both sides and steel-manning the argument.”
Hannah Swartz, a graduating senior quoted by The New York Times, said: “It’s not that he’s blaming our generation for the way we are. He’s trying to empower us with the skills to go out in the world.”
The walkout became political
The Wall Street Journal reported in an opinion column that Haidt was booed during the commencement address and that several dozen students walked out.
The column argued that the episode showed “woke” campus politics had not disappeared, even when the speaker was a professor known more for social psychology than provocation.
Some students, however, described the dispute less as a culture-war moment than as disappointment over who was chosen to address their graduating class.
Sources: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, NYU Student Government Assembly, Jonathan Haidt – The Coddling of the American Mind, Jonathan Haidt – The Anxious Generation
