USC announced Thursday it was canceling its main commencement ceremonies in May and putting the theatrical series on hold that began last week after it informed valedictorian Asna Tabassum, who was protested by pro-Israel groups. did. She will not give a traditional speech,
In completely canceling the university-wide May 10 graduation ceremony, which was expected to draw 65,000 people at Alumni Park, USC aimed to defuse the controversy that grew as it escalated. fragmented aspects of functionThere has been criticism from both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel activists across the country.
In addition to smaller departmental receptions, at least 23 satellite graduation ceremonies at USC’s schools and colleges will continue as scheduled.
“We understand this is disappointing; However, we are adding many new activities and celebrations to make this commencement academically meaningful, memorable and uniquely USC, including places to gather with family, friends, faculty and staff, a dove release celebration and Trojan Marching. Includes performances by. Band, USC said in a statement.
The university also announced that it would require tickets for “all commencement events taking place May 8–11” and would direct “access to all campus through specific points of entry.”
Citing unspecified security threats as the reason for canceling Tabassum’s speech, USC has faced numerous protests on campus, including occupations by students calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and divestment from Israeli-linked arms manufacturers. The pro-Palestine camp is also included. That demonstration led to dozens of arrests by the Los Angeles Police Department. USC joins campuses across the country where conflict has deepened since Hamas’s invasion of Israel on Oct. 7.
Tabassum’s speech was canceled by university authorities Concluding speech from director Jon M. Chu And an appearance on the main stage by honorary doctorate recipients, including tennis star Billie Jean King, said they “wanted to keep the focus on our graduates.”
Some smaller commencement ceremonies will still host keynote speakers, including King, who is scheduled to address graduates of the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism on May 10.
King has not responded to interview requests from The Times.
National Endowment for the Arts President Maria Rosario Jackson, who also missed the opportunity to receive an honorary degree on the main stage, is scheduled to deliver the keynote address May 10 to graduates of the USC Price School of Public Policy.
Through an NEA spokesperson, Price declined an interview request.
Actor and activist Sean Penn will also address graduates of the Alfred E. Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences on May 11, according to his representative.
last time main USC commencement was canceled in 2020 After the beginning of the pandemic. Those graduates participated in online and in-person ceremonies next year, along with the Class of 2021.
“To put it bluntly, this is an unusual start,” said USC biologist Donal Manahan, who has been the university marshal for the main stage ceremony since 2016. “The whole country is going through this.”
The saga at USC began on April 15, when Provost Andrew T. Guzman issued a campus-wide letter citing anonymous threats This happened after the university announced Tabassum as a distinguished speaker and a scheduled speaker. Guzmán said the attacks were of “alarming scale” and had “initially escalated to the extent of creating substantial risks related to security and disruption.”
Guzmán did not specify what the threats were or who was targeted. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department told The Times that the agency had no crime reports regarding violent threats targeting Tabassum or the convocation ceremony.
The complaints focused on a link to a pro-Palestine website on Tabassum’s Instagram profile, which stated, “Zionism is a racist colonialist ideology,” and, “A Palestinian state would mean Palestinian liberation and the complete elimination of the state of Israel” so that ” Arabs and Jews can live together.”
Tabassum has denied that she supports anti-Semitic views and said he is being singled out As a hijab-wearing Muslim woman.
Then last Friday, USC canceled the attendance of “Crazy Rich Asians” director Chu — and other commencement honorees. In canceling those events, USC cited “the highly publicized circumstances surrounding our main stage commencement event.”
In an interview before the announcement of the main forum being canceled Thursday, USC Senior Vice President of Communications Joel Curran said the decision about Chu and the honorary degree recipients was made to avoid putting them in an “awkward position” about having to address the honorees. Was done for. conflict or Israel-Hamas war.
“We are putting them in an awkward position, a difficult position. There has been a lot of discussion about the beginning. We don’t want to put them in that position, Curran said.
USC is one of dozens of colleges and universities where tensions over free speech and protest over the Israel-Hamas war have escalated in recent weeks, including Columbia, Yale, UC Berkeley and Cal Poly Humboldt.
Attack on Israel on October 7, Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people and took about 240 hostage. Gaza health officials say more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s counter-war. According to the United Nations, 2 million Gazans are living in famine conditions.
