C ornell University student Letitia Chai delivered her thesis Saturday wearing nothing but a bra and underwear.

Chai’s choice of clothing was in response to controversial comments made by her professor during a trial run of the presentation.

Professor Rebekah Maggor had reportedly told Chai her cutoff jean shorts were "too short" and that she was "making a statement" with the outfit she wore.

Several audience members joined Chai in stripping down for her formal thesis performance.

College senior Letitia Chai delivered her thesis on the integration of refugees into host communities Saturday morning — while wearing her underwear.

The Cornell University student stripped down to her bra and underwear to protest comments her professor made about her clothing choices during a trial run of her thesis presentation earlier in the week.

According to The Cornell Daily Sun, the first thing performing and media arts professor Rebekah Maggor said to Chai as she started to address the class Wednesday was, "Is that really what you would wear?"

Chai, who was dressed in a blue button-down shirt and cutoff jean shorts, told the student newspaper she "was so taken aback" by Maggor’s question that she "didn’t really know how to respond."

In a Facebook post that has since been deleted, Chai wrote that Maggor went on to say her shorts were "too short." The situation was further heightened when a male student claimed Chai had "a moral obligation to her audience to dress conservatively during her thesis presentation," at which point Chai left the room, The Sun reported.

Chai later returned to complete her draft thesis speech — but this time, she wore only a bra and underwear in protest of what she called "oppressive beliefs and discrimination," according to The New York Daily News.

She arrived at her formal thesis presentation a few days later dressed initially in the same button-down shirt and jean shorts, but disrobed once more and encouraged those in attendance to follow suit.

According to The Sun, 28 of the 44 people in the room stripped in support of Chai.

Chai was visibly emotional in a livestream of her thesis presentation.

"Honestly, I’m floored by your support," she told the audience. "For those of you who are totally confused by the scale and size of what is going on, on Wednesday I sent out a plea for solidarity, solidarity with individuals like myself who have been asked to question ourselves — specifically, our appearance for the comfort of others. … For years, we’ve made excuses for unacceptable behavior."

In response to the outcry following Chai’s account of what happened Wednesday, 11 of the other 13 students in the class submitted a statement to the university newspaper, expressing support for Chai’s advocacy but presenting a different impression of how the events unfolded.

"[Maggor’s] focus on attire was a means of noting the importance of professionalism in certain public speaking situations," the students wrote. "After Letitia left … [Maggor] apologized for her choice of words, acknowledging that the notion of ‘short shorts’ on women carries a lot of cultural and political baggage. Unfortunately, because Letitia was not in the room, she was not able to hear these comments, and we believe this contributed to the miscommunication."

The students went on to describe Maggor as a "gift to Cornell," writing that her support of students is "unparalleled."

You can read the letter in full here.

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