Colson Whitehead withdraws as UMass Amherst commencement speaker after protester arrests – NBC Boston

Pulitzer Prize winner Colson Whitehead will not deliver the keynote address at UMass Amherst’s graduation ceremony next week after dozens of protesters were arrested Tuesday.

About 130 people were arrested at a pro-Palestinian camp on campus. Whitehead spoke out against the arrests Thursday and the school confirmed on its website that he had withdrawn.

“I was looking forward to speaking at UMass Amherst next week,” Whitehead wrote on social media in a message he sent the school a day earlier. “I was there two years ago and everyone was great. My nephew graduated there and received a great education. But calling the police on peaceful protesters is a shameful act.”

Yesterday I sent this message to the UMass administration: “I was looking forward to speaking at UMass Amherst next week. I was there two years ago and everyone was great. My nephew graduated there and received a great education. But call the police.” Protesters are a shameful act…” 1/2

— Colson Whitehead (@colson.bsky.social) May 9, 2024 at 1:52 pm

“…I must withdraw as your commencement speaker. I offer Class 24 my best wishes and congratulations and prayers for the safety of the Palestinian people, the return of the hostages and an end to this terrible war.” 2/2

— Colson Whitehead (@colson.bsky.social) May 9, 2024 at 1:53 pm

“I offer 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,” the author continued.

UMass Amherst’s graduation ceremony is scheduled for May 18 at 10 a.m. and there will be no commencement speaker, the school said.

“We respect Mr. Whitehead’s position and regret that he will not speak to the class of 2024,” spokesman Ed Blaguszewski said in a statement.

Whitehead won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2017 for “The Underground Railroad” and again in 2020 for “The Nickel Boys.”