Clayton HS student spoke up for Palestine. Then her graduation speech was cut off.
Before Leen Hijaz finished her graduation speech, she left the Clayton High School class of 2026 with a final message: If you’re able to use your voice, do it.
“Whether it’s the millions suffering in Palestine, Sudan, Congo, Afghanistan and so many other countries around the world, or the families being torn apart by ICE,” Hijaz said over the cheers of her classmates. “These are not distant issues, they are happening as I speak.”
But she didn’t get to finish her call to action, according to a recording of the ceremony reviewed by The News & Observer. Hijaz said later online that it was Clayton High School Principal Melissa Hubbard who approached the podium and stopped her from saying anything else.
Hubbard did not respond to The N&O’s email requesting comment on the incident.
“The only reason why I wanted to go on that stage is because I wanted to say something,” Hijaz said in a video explaining the situation that was uploaded to her Tiktok account. “I really think somebody had to say something.”
The N&O reached out to Hijaz over social media to speak more about the situation, but has not yet received a response.
“School administrators intervened in order to maintain the integrity and focus of the program in real time,” a statement from the Johnston County Public School district said. “This action was not about limiting a student’s voice, but about ensuring that a school-sponsored event remained consistent with its intended purpose.”
Hijaz claims school officials threatened to withhold her and another student’s diplomas during the graduation ceremony. A district spokesperson disputed that in a statement and said “school administrators have spoken with the family regarding retrieving it,” when The N&O first reached out for comment.
The spokesperson emailed a reporter back later on Tuesday morning to confirm that the diploma had been awarded to Hijaz.
‘The welcome speech’
Hijaz wanted to use the graduation speech to speak out about issues she felt passionately about, she said in the video uploaded to her TikTok account.
The remarks are vetted ahead of time by school officials, the district confirmed to The N&O. And Hijaz admitted in her video that she didn’t submit her ending comments for review.
“If I submitted it to the school, they would have disapproved it immediately,” Hijaz said. She attributed her hesitation to “all of the stuff I have personally experienced as a Muslim Arab girl going to school here in Johnston County.”
School district officials did not comment on whether students are required to sign any contract or document agreeing to stick to preapproved comments, or whether there are any consequences for straying from those remarks.
Censored grad speeches
Last year, the Cumberland County School Board stopped a transgender graduation speaker from using his time to talk about the experiences of the trans community, WUNC reported.
Gray Byrd, the E.E. Smith High School valedictorian, submitted a speech that was ultimately turned away by the school board’s attorney, according to WUNC.
In 2024 a commencement speech by the University of Southern California’s valedictorian was cancelled due to security concerns, The Associated Press reported. The speaker had publicly supported Palestine.
This story was originally published June 2, 2026 at 12:36 PM with the headline "Clayton HS student spoke up for Palestine. Then her graduation speech was cut off.."
