USC valedictorian’s pro-Palestinian speech canceled due to threats

The University of Southern California announced Monday that it will not have its valedictorian, who is Muslim and pro-Palestinian, speak at its commencement because officials worry about keeping the event safe amid fears of threats.

USC Provost Andrew Guzman said that “while this is disappointing, tradition must give way to safety,” citing an obligation to minimize danger to the campus and community.

“This decision has nothing to do with freedom of speech,” he wrote in a statement announcing the decision. “There is no freespeech entitlement to speak at a commencement. The issue here is how best to maintain campus security and safety, period.”

Asna Tabassum, the student selected as valedictorian, and Muslim advocacy groups view it as the silencing of a student.

“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,” she said in a statement released by the Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

“I am not surprised by those who attempt to propagate hatred. I am surprised that my own university — my home for four years — has abandoned me,” added Tabassum, a biomedical engineering student.

She described a meeting with administration officials Sunday in which the officials told her the school would not take added safety measures for her speech for “image” reasons, nor would they share any specific threats against her or the event.

The decision comes as college campuses struggle to balance how to make sure students feel safe and stay safe. That on-campus tension reached new highs in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, as many students have protested the United States’ support for Israel’s retribution bombing and ground attacks in the Gaza Strip.

There have been flare-ups, including a chemical attack on pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University in New York in January. Months later, demonstrations at Columbia are still ongoing.