Topline
The University of Southern California announced Thursday it will not host its main commencement ceremony—a decision that comes a day after more than 90 students protesting in solidarity with Palestinians were arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department.
Pro-Palestinian protests began on campus Wednesday. (Photo by Grace Hie Yoon/Anadolu via Getty ... [+]
Key Facts
The university said in a commencement update it “will not be able to” host the main graduation ceremony, citing new safety measures that would increase the time needed to process the thousands of guests who typically attend the ceremony.
The announcement follows the arrest of 93 protesters on campus who attended a demonstration demanding USC end study abroad programs in Israel, provide amnesty to campus members disciplined for pro-Palestinian activism and disclose and divest its finances from companies that profit from “Israeli apartheid, genocide, and occupation in Palestine,” according to a statement from the USC Divest From Death Coalition.
The protesters were released Thursday morning, according to The Daily Trojan, USC’s student newspaper, though tensions following the protest have persisted, provoking the university to shut down USC’s main campus through the weekend to those without USC identification or legitimate business purposes.
USC will still hold commencement events for students, though it will require tickets for each event and direct “all campus access through specific points of entry.”
Tangent
USC is also facing criticism from students over its decision to axe a graduation speech by valedictorian Asna Tabassum, a biomedical engineering student whose social media posts supporting Palestinians were flagged by pro-Israel groups to USC, which they alleged were also antisemitic. The university said its decision to cancel her speech was based on unspecified security threats to her and the university’s commencement ceremony.
Crucial Quote
“USC’s cancellation of Asna’s speech was an unjustifiable act of censorship — the hyper-militarized response to peaceful demonstrations this week have proven contradictory to their initial claims of inadequate security resources,” Michael Solomon, a USC senior and Truman scholar majoring in history, told Forbes. “Our entire campus community is now suffering because of that cowardly decision as the administration hides behind law enforcement to avoid accountability. Their silence is deafening.”
Key Background
USC, which also canceled all outside speakers for its graduation ceremony after barring Tabassum from speaking, is one of several universities in the U.S. being roiled by pro-Palestinian protests. Multiple University of Texas at Austin students were arrested Wednesday during a protest attended by more than 200. Similar to that of protesting USC students, the protest demanded the University of Texas divest its endowment from companies supplying weapons to the Israeli Defense Forces. About 47 protesters at Yale University were arrested Monday after more than 300 protesters gathered in campus streets. Columbia University has also become entrenched in protest, with the New York Police Department clearing out an encampment on campus and arresting students protesting Israel’s invasion of Gaza. The university’s president, Nemat Shafik, is facing calls to step down over the university’s handling of student protests. Several high-profile donors have suspended their support of Shafik, though Columbia’s board of trustees has voiced support for her amid the controversy.
Further Reading
Yale Arrests Pro-Palestine Student Protesters As Tensions Escalate On Ivy League Campuses (Forbes)
Texas Troopers Arrest University Of Texas Students During Protest (Forbes)
Who Is Nemat Shafik? Columbia Board Backs President Amid Tense Protests, Calls For Resignation (Forbes)
