The University of Southern California made a bold move by announcing on Friday that it would ax all outside speakers during its commencement ceremony, according to Fox News Digital.
The recent announcement comes just days after the prestigious university canceled its Muslim student Asna Tabassum’s valedictorian speech after she posted controversial posts to social media.
“Given the highly publicized circumstances surrounding our main-stage commencement program, university leadership has decided it is best to release our outside speakers and honorees from attending this year’s ceremony,” a statement from the university said.
“We’ve been talking to this exceptional group and hope to confer these honorary degrees at a future commencement or other academic ceremonies,” the statement concluded.
The university also published a statement on why the student valedictorian would not permitted to give a speech this year.
“The Office of the Provost is involved in commencement in many ways, including the selection of our undergraduate valedictorian. Unfortunately, over the past several days, discussion relating to the selection of our valedictorian has taken on an alarming tenor,” the university said in a statement.
“The intensity of feelings, fueled by both social media and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, has grown to include many voices outside of USC and has escalated to the point of creating substantial risks relating to security and disruption at commencement. We cannot ignore the fact that similar risks have led to harassment and even violence at other campuses,” it continued.
Andrew T. Guzman — the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs — addressed the issue of freedom of speech, writing: “To be clear: this decision has nothing to do with freedom of speech. There is no free-speech entitlement to speak at a commencement. The issue here is how best to maintain campus security and safety, period.”
Kabassum came under fire from Jewish groups who said her pro-Palestinian social media posts appeared to contain anti-Semitic rhetoric.
The Economic Times reported that a post found on Tabassum’s Instagram account suggested that her readers look into the Israel-Palestine conflict, going on to suggest that there should be “one Palestinian state.”
The post continued by saying that this would mean “Palestinian liberation and the complete abolishment of the state of Israel.”
Tabassum’s call for the abolishment of the state of Israel seems to run counter to her call for “human rights for all.” While she said “anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian voices have subjected me to a campaign of racist hatred,” Tabassum conceded she was not aware of a single threat made against her or the university.
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