The University of Southern California, citing safety concerns and passions around the latest Middle East conflict, has canceled its valedictorian speech from a Muslim student who said she was being silenced by anti-Palestinian hatred for her views on human rights.
\nUSC Provost Andrew Guzman said in a statement on Monday that the decision to scrub the traditional valedictorian address at next month\u2019s graduation had \u201cnothing to do with freedom of speech\u201d and was simply aimed at protecting campus security.
\nThe valedictorian, biomedical engineering major Asna Tabassum, in her own statement challenged the university\u2019s rationale, questioning \u201cwhether USC\u2019s decision to revoke my invitation to speak is made solely on the basis of safety.\u201d
\nGuzman\u2019s statement did not refer to Tabassum by name, or specify what about her speech, background or political views had raised concerns. Nor did it detail any particular threats.
\nThe provost referred more broadly to how \u201cdiscussion relating to the selection of our valedictorian had taken on an alarming tenor\u201d in recent days.
\n\u201cThe intensity of feelings, fueled by both social media and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, has grown to include many voices outside of USC and has escalated to the point of creating substantial risks relating to security and disruption at commencement,\u201d he wrote.
\nAs a consequence, \u201cwe have decided that our student valedictorian will not deliver a speech at commencement,\u201d Guzman wrote, adding, \u201ctradition must give way to safety.\u201d The Los Angeles Times reported the decision was a first for USC.
\nPublic safety officials and civil rights advocates have reported a rise in hate crimes against Muslims, Jews, Arabs and Palestinians in the United States, along with heightened tensions on college campuses related to the Israel-Gaza war, since the conflict erupted on Oct. 7.
\nAccording to Tabassum, who described herself as a \u201cfirst-generation South Asian-American Muslim,\u201d USC officials refused in an April 14 meeting with her to share details of the university\u2019s security assessment.
\nUSC, renowned for an intercollegiate athletic program whose football and other teams are known as the Trojans, did not respond to Reuters\u2019 request for further comment.
\n\u2018CAVING TO FEAR\u2019
\nTabassum said she also was told USC possessed the ability \u201cto take appropriate safety measures for my valedictory speech\u201d but opted not to because a tougher security posture was \u201cnot what the university wants to \u2018present as an image.’\u201d
\nInstead, Tabassum said USC was \u201ccaving to fear and rewarding hatred,\u201d which she said was being directed by \u201canti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian voices\u201d targeting her \u201cbecause of my uncompromising belief in human rights for all.\u201d
\nNeither Tabassum nor USC made explicit mention of the Israel-Gaza war.
\nTrojans for Israel, a USC-based group, and We Are Tov (Hebrew for \u201cgood\u201d), a group advocating support for Israel and Jews in collegiate life, had called for Tabassum\u2019s removal as commencement speaker earlier this month, saying she had espoused antisemitic views in the past.
\nLocal media reported both groups had mounted opposition to Tabassum based on her social media profile, including an Instagram account with a link directing users to a slideshow about \u201cwhat\u2019s happening in Palestine and how to help.\u201d It advocated for \u201cone Palestinian state\u201d and \u201cthe complete abolishment of the state of Israel.\u201d
\nTabassum told an NBC News affiliate that she posted the link five years earlier and did not author the slideshow.
\nIn her statement, Tabassum said her undergraduate minor studies in genocide resistance had shown her the danger of allowing \u201ccries for equality and human dignity\u201d to be deliberately conflated with \u201cexpressions of hatred.\u201d
\n\u201cDue to widespread fear, I was hoping to use my commencement speech to inspire my classmates with a message of hope,\u201d she wrote.
\nSonya Meyerson-Knox, spokesperson for the Jewish anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace, said the USC episode was part of a larger pattern on U.S. college campuses of students being censured as anti-Jewish for criticizing Israel\u2019s government or for expressing support for Palestinian rights.
\n\u201cHolding the government of Israel accountable for committing grave human rights violations and war crimes and possible genocide has nothing to do with antisemitism,\u201d she said.
\nOther Jewish groups have countered that anti-Zionist rhetoric \u2013 sometimes marked by calls for Israel\u2019s destruction or right to exist \u2013 frequently feeds overt forms of anti-Jewish hatred.
\nTabassum was chosen valedictorian from nearly 100 applicants \u2013 submitted from among the more than 200 graduating seniors \u2013 who qualified for the honor based on their grade-point-averages, according to USC.
\nThe university had not asked for an advanced copy of Tabassum\u2019s address before withdrawing her invitation to speak, and she had not even begun working on her speech, said Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations, an advocacy group that circulated her statement.
\nThe council launched an online campaign calling for USC to reinstate Tabassum\u2019s invitation to speak.
\nThe May 10 commencement exercises, honoring this year\u2019s class of 19,000-plus graduates, is expected to draw 65,000 people to the downtown Los Angeles campus of USC, long regarded as one of California\u2019s most prestigious private universities.
\n(Reuters)speech cancellation. Muslim student, USC valedictorian speech, Middle East conflict<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The University of Southern California canceled the valedictorian speech of Muslim student Asna Tabassum due to safety concerns and tensions surrounding the Middle East conflict. USC Provost Andrew Guzman stated that the decision was made to protect campus security, as discussions about the valedictorian selection had become alarming. Tabassum challenged the university’s rationale, questioning if the decision was solely based on safety. USC faced opposition from groups like Trojans for Israel and We Are Tov, who called for Tabassum’s removal as commencement speaker, citing her social media profile and past views on Palestine and Israel. Tabassum’s invitation to speak was withdrawn without USC reviewing her speech, leading to criticism and calls for her reinstatement from groups like the Council on American Islamic Relations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":8545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1521,2255,969,3385,1221,279,2577,6432,3635,4758,5516,3194,3190,2083,1167,2837,336,1939,145,4171,607,415,1938,4407,115,3222,299,148,1276,2952,1346,4442,69,4711,4569,6811,3331,4795,345,5755,462,4834,5967,5279,3522,2871,1812,1222,6780,827,817,1827,3378,1358,4592,468,2843,544,1001,173,6812,483,293,4280,6305,18],"class_list":["post-8544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-1521","tag-anti-semitism","tag-antisemitism","tag-california","tag-campaign","tag-comment","tag-concerns","tag-conflict","tag-crimes","tag-criticism","tag-danger","tag-destruction","tag-dignity","tag-disruption","tag-draw","tag-equality","tag-football","tag-freedom-of-speech","tag-gaza","tag-gaza-war","tag-genocide","tag-government","tag-hate-crimes","tag-hope","tag-human-rights","tag-human-rights-violations","tag-israel","tag-local","tag-los-angeles","tag-media","tag-meeting","tag-message","tag-middle-east","tag-middle-east-conflict","tag-minor","tag-muslim-student","tag-news","tag-ongoing-conflict","tag-palestine","tag-palestinian-state","tag-palestinians","tag-peace","tag-public-safety","tag-questioning","tag-relations","tag-request","tag-rights","tag-safety","tag-safety-concerns","tag-security","tag-social-media","tag-statement","tag-students","tag-support","tag-teams","tag-tensions","tag-tradition","tag-united-states","tag-universities","tag-usa","tag-usc-valedictorian-speech","tag-violations","tag-war","tag-war-crimes","tag-who","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n