Citing safety, USC makes rare cancellation of speech by valedictorian who supported Palestinians

LOS ANGELES — The University of Southern California canceled a 2024 farewell speech that has publicly supported the Palestinians, citing security concerns over the rare decision that has been praised by several pro-Israel groups and criticized by advocates of free speech and the largest Islamic civil rights organization in the country. .

Andrew T. Guzman, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at the private Los Angeles university, said in a statement Monday that the debate over the selection of valedictorian Asna Tabassum to deliver the May 10 commencement address has an “alarming tenor.” has got. Her speech would have posed ‘substantial’ security risks to the event that draws 65,000 people to campus, he said.

While Guzman did not specify whether there were any threats, he said “we cannot ignore the fact that similar risks have led to harassment and even violence on other campuses.”

“The intensity of sentiment, fueled by both social media and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, has grown to include many voices beyond USC and has escalated to the point of creating substantial risks to security at the outset and disruption,” Guzman wrote. .

The war between Israel and Hamas poses a challenge to universities that are under pressure to preserve freedom of expression and open debate. Campuses are expected to be particularly tested as commencement speeches get underway in the United States.

Universities should resist canceling events that could be construed as censorship, especially if it involves a high-profile speech, said Zach Greenberg, a First Amendment attorney at the national Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE. But if they do, schools must be transparent and specify safety issues “not only as a matter of integrity” but also to alert the public to their own safety, he said.

He expressed concern that other schools are succumbing to pressure and eroding freedom of expression.

“This is kind of the opening salvo of the starting season,” he said. “It appears to be a fairly clear example of a university canceling an event and censoring a student due to opposition to student views, especially on social media regarding the conflict in Gaza. .”

Tabassum, who is graduating with a major in biomedical engineering and a minor in genocide resistance, said she was blindsided by the decision, in a statement provided Tuesday by the Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations . University officials told her Monday that the school had the resources to take appropriate safety measures, but they were concerned about their image, she said.

“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,” she said, adding that she was not aware of any specific threats against her or the university.

“I am both shocked by this decision and deeply disappointed that the university is succumbing to a hate campaign designed to silence my voice,” she said. “I am not surprised by those who try to promote hate. I am surprised that my own university – where I lived for four years – abandoned me.”

In his statement, Guzman claimed the decision was solely about safety.

“To be clear, this decision has nothing to do with freedom of expression,” Guzman wrote. “There is no right to free speech at the outset. The issue here is how best to maintain security and safety on campus, period.”

The university announced its decision on the same day that pro-Palestinian protesters blocked roads in Illinois, California, New York and the Pacific Northwest, halting travel to some of the country’s most heavily used airports, Golden Gate and Brooklyn bridges and on a busy West Coast Highway to demand an immediate ceasefire in the war.

University campuses have been a hotbed of protest activity surrounding the war between Israel and Hamas, which began after Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people. According to the Israeli Ministry of Health, as many as 33,800 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli attack on Gaza.

The organization EndJewHatred issued a press release Monday evening praising USC’s decision to cancel the speech.

“Ms. Tabassum’s farewell speech was expected to be harmful to Jewish students and possibly even agitate anti-Jewish activists,” the organization said.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned the cancellation.

“USC cannot hide its cowardly decision behind a disingenuous concern for ‘safety,’” the organization’s executive director, Hussam Ayloush, said in a statement.

Tabassum, who describes herself as a first-generation South Asian American Muslim, said her speech was intended to inspire hope during difficult times.

“By canceling my speech, USC is only giving in to fear and rewarding hate,” she said.

She said she loves her school and noted that her minor opposition to genocide is “anchored by the Shoah Foundation,” the USC-headquartered project founded by Steven Spielberg to document the stories of Holocaust survivors and to keep.

“As your class valedictorian, I implore my USC classmates to think outside the box – to work toward a world where calls for equality and human dignity are not manipulated to be expressions of hate,” she said. “I challenge us to respond to ideological discomfort with dialogue and education, not with bigotry and censorship. And I urge us to look beyond our deepest fears and recognize the need to support justice for all people, including the Palestinian people.”

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Watson reported from San Diego.