(NewsInsights.org) – University of Southern California (USC) administrators and staff recently named Asna Tabassum, a pro-Palestinian Muslim biomedical student, as the head of her graduating class. On Monday, April 15, USC Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Andrew Guzman announced the university had opted to cancel the controversial valedictorian’s speech at the graduation ceremony based on safety and security considerations exacerbated by unrest in Gaza and pro-Palestinian protests throughout campuses in the US.
The provost pointed out that more than 19,000 graduates will draw over 65,000 attendees to graduation activities between May 8 and 11. He mentioned that his office organized the selection of the valedictory students, as it does annually. However, he emphasized the rancor surrounding the committee’s selection fueled by “many voices outside of USC,” raising “substantial” security and safety concerns regarding the large impending gathering.
The provost’s solution was to cancel the valedictorian’s commencement speech. Guzman said, “While this is disappointing, tradition must [yield] to safety.” He said he made the decision based on the university’s legal obligation to maintain the safety of students and the campus. While explaining, “There is no free-speech entitlement to speak at a commencement,” he declared his ruling had “nothing to do with freedom of speech.”
Tabassum expressed her viewpoint in a personal statement released on April 15. She claimed USC administrators told her that while the university could muster the security forces necessary to ensure campus and speaker safety, administrators instead chose to de-escalate the situation by canceling her speech.
She lamented that the university chose to cave to hatred and fear, silencing and abandoning her. She pointed out that she minored in resistance to genocide, a curriculum “anchored by the Shoah Foundation,” to learn the process of diffusing the violence caused by unchallenged hate and fear.
Tabassum said she had wanted her commencement speech to inspire hope. Instead, she claims the university was “rewarding hatred” and intolerance.
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