Social media swells with support for couple engaged at UC Davis grad ceremony
Social media is roaring with support for a couple who got engaged during the UC Davis School of Medicine commencement ceremony over the weekend.
Habib Salamah, a medical student at the California school, dropped to one knee to propose to his partner, Alaa’i Alshabrawy, as he crossed the stage to receive his diploma at the UC Davis School of Medicine graduation ceremony on Saturday. The moment, posted to the university’s social media pages, has since gone viral, with users sharing messages of congratulations at the surprising moment.
“A love story built at the UC Davis School of Medicine,” the school captioned the moment.
Salamah was joined by his older sister, his 8-year-old brother, whom they jointly raised after the death of their mother, and Alshabrawy as he accepted his diploma. After being hooded — a symbolic ceremony in which graduating medical students have a hood placed over their shoulders to signify the completion of their degree — and taking photos, Salamah kneeled to propose to Alshabrawy.
Fellow graduates and attendees burst into applause as Alshabraway covered her mouth and accepted his proposal with a smile on her face. Salamah placed the ring on her finger, and the couple posed for photos.
According to Salamah, school officials and Alshabrawy’s father were among the few people who knew about his plans to propose. In the UC Davis graduation release, he explained that he was nervous — not because Alshabrawy might have said no, but because the bold gesture, conducted in front of nearly 1,000 people, might not have aligned with the couple’s Muslim values of modesty and public restraint.
“When I got down on one knee, I wasn’t just asking Dr. Alshabrawy to marry me, I was also pleading with the world to see Palestinians as human beings, too,” Salamah said, according to the release.
Salamah lived in Palestine for three years as a child, according to the university release.
Alshabrawy responded with gratitude to social media users who took to the university’s social media pages to express their congratulations.
“Thank you all for celebrating such a special day with me and for making this milestone feel so meaningful,” Alshabrawy wrote in a comment on the university’s Instagram video post of her proposal.
“This year also reminded me how important it is for medicine to make space for advocacy, humanity, and conviction. I’m proud of the conversations and advocacy efforts many of us continued to push forward in support of Palestine and human dignity while navigating medicine and caring for our communities,” Alshabrawy wrote.
Alshabrawy graduated from the UC Davis School of Medicine in 2025 and is an internal medicine resident. She is also of Egyptian descent, according to the UC Davis release.
This story was originally published May 20, 2026 at 12:32 PM.
