Traditionally, MIT Chaplain Robert Randolph has given a religious prayer at the ceremony, as he prayed to the “God of Abraham, Jesus and Mohammed” during last year’s graduation. However, MIT’s Commencement Committee emailed undergraduates announcing the change in May.

In an interview with Campus Reform, Randolph explained that the situation was brought up suddenly and had to be quickly addressed by the administration.

“[This issue is] not something that’s come up before...we are familiar with the fact that we are a diverse community, and so we have many faiths represented, but we have never had a conversation prompted by a group that felt that they were left out since they didn’t believe in any higher power. Their solution, which was not to have any kind of invocation, was not an ...