Why USC canceled pro-Palestinian valedictorian’s graduation speech
Why USC canceled pro-Palestinian valedictorian’s graduation speech
Also: The adult gap year, AI rom-coms and skimpy track uniforms
In an unprecedented move, the University of Southern California this week canceled the Class of 2024 valedictorian speech.
Valedictorian Asna Tabassum, who is pro-Palestinian, was informed she would be barred from speaking at the commencement ceremony, the first time in the university’s history that a valedictorian has been prohibited from participating in the tradition.
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Andrew Guzman announced in a campus-wide email that threats from both on and off the USC campus had “escalated to the point of creating substantial risks relating to security and disruption at commencement.”
USC acknowledged receiving emails, phone calls, and letters that posed security threats, including at least one targeting Tabassum. However, Guzman did not specify the threats in his email, and USC declined to provide further details to the L.A. Times.
Tabassum condemned the decision in a statement:
“Although this should have been a time of celebration for my family, friends, professors, and classmates, anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian voices have subjected me to a campaign of racist hatred because of my uncompromising belief in human rights for all.”
Noting the university denied her request for details of the university’s threat assessment she expressed “serious doubts about whether USC’s decision to revoke my invitation to speak is made solely on the basis of safety.”
A biomedical engineering major and first-generation American of South Asian descent, Tabassum was chosen as valedictorian on April 5 from a pool of over 100 applicants. She minored in resistance to genocide.
Pro-Israeli groups on campus had protested her selection as valedictorian, citing her pro-Palestinian social media posts which they claimed were anti-Semitic.
Trojans for Palestine joined 65 university student and local organizations in an open letter to The Daily Trojan, the USC’s student newspaper, stating, “When you silence her, you are silencing all of us.”
“As students of this university, we are beyond outraged and ashamed at the administration’s decision to bar our valedictorian from speaking at our upcoming Class of 2024 commencement and emphatically denounce this decision and the repressive sentiment it embodies,” the letter said, accusing the university of Islamophobia and xenophobia “by bowing to anonymous, violent harassment campaigns that aim to harm people’s lives."
A petition to reinstate her speech quickly amassed 38,000 signatures.
Israel strikes back in Iran
Israeli missile has attacked an Iranian airbase in response for last weekend’s Iranian missile and drone attack on Israel.
According to Iranian news reports from the multiple explosions were heard near a military base in Isfahan, a location known for its military significance and near one of Iran's major nuclear facilities, which was not targeted.
The incident occurred just hours after Iran’s Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahianwarned that any further military actions by Israel would elicit an "immediate and at a maximum level" response from Iran.
U.S. officials acknowledged that Israel had informed them of the impending retaliation, emphasizing that while the U.S. did not endorse the strike, it was not surprised by the development.
Israel is saying this was a limited strike and the Iranian state-run media is downplaying the incident.
The U.S. and United Kindom announced new sanctions Thursday targeting Iran's unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) production capabilities.
Dig deeper: In her column Cosmopolitics, Zivvy founder Elise Labott lays out key questions about what happens now between Israel and Iran
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