Photo: ROBYN BECK / AFP / Getty Images
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Several hundred people marched through the USC campus Thursday to protest the university's decision not to allow its chosen valedictorian to make a speech during the May 10 commencement ceremonies.
USC Provost Andrew Guzman announced Monday that Asna Tabassum would still serve as valedictorian, but would not be allowed to speak during the ceremony, following complaints and some threats received by the university contending she supported antisemitic views online.
The decision was met with derision from groups including the Muslim Public Affairs Council and the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Los Angeles. CAIR-LA officials said Wednesday that a petition it initiated calling for USC to reverse its decision had received 38,000 signatures within 48 hours.
Early Thursday afternoon, hundreds of students gathered near the Tommy Trojan statue on the USC campus then began marching through the university grounds in protest. One student told ABC7 the group was asking for "clarity" and "understanding" of the reasoning behind the university's decision. One student says she belongs to a Muslim student group, and the organization never received any advance notice from the university "about their decision to silence our valedictorian."
There were no reports of any arrests or disturbances stemming from the march.
Guzman, in a message to the USC community Monday, insisted the decision was strictly based on safety and security concerns.
"While this is disappointing, tradition must give way to safety," Guzman wrote. "This decision is not only necessary to maintain the safety of our campus and students, but is consistent with the fundamental legal obligation -- including the expectations of federal regulators -- that universities act to protect students and keep our campus community safe.
"It applies the same values and criteria that we have used in the past to guide our actions. In no way does it diminish the remarkable academic achievements of any student considered or selected for valedictorian. 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."
Critics of Tabassum raised questions about views relating to the conflict in the Middle East she has posted online. In letters sent to USC administrators, critics accused her of posting on a social media account a link to a website that "takes a swinging bat at over 10% of the USC student body and mudslings by calling Zionists `racist-settlers."'
"Ms. Tabassum unabashedly and openly endorses the link's calls for `the complete abolishment of the state of israel (sic),"' according to a letter circulated for critics to submit to administrators. "As if the unqualified command for abolition of the State of Israel was unclear in any way, Ms. Tabassum's link reinforces racism with another link, urging readers to `reject the hegemonic efforts to demand that Palestinians accept that Israel has a right to exist as a . . . Jewish state."'
Tabassum released a statement through CAIR-LA, saying "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."
"This campaign to prevent me from addressing my peers at commencement has evidently accomplished its goal: today, USC administrators informed me that the university will no longer allow me to speak at commencement due to supposed security concerns," she said. "I am both shocked by this decision and profoundly disappointed that the university is succumbing to a campaign of hate meant to silence my voice.
"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."
CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush called the USC decision "cowardly" and the reasoning "disingenuous."
"Asna is an incredibly accomplished student whose academic and extracurricular accomplishments made her the ideal and historic recipient of this year's valedictorian's honor," Ayloush said in a statement. "The university can, should and must ensure a safe environment for graduation rather than taking the unprecedented step of cancelling a valedictorian's speech."
In a statement Thursday, ACLU of Southern California staff attorney Mohammad Tajsar said the university has had no problem arranging security for other high-profile speeches.
"If the university can accommodate speeches by Ben Shapiro and Milo Yiannopoulos and host President Obama and the kind of Jordan at its graduations, surely it can bear whatever burden comes with celebrating Asna Tabassum as its valedictorian," Tajsar said.
"Rather than soothing the anxious and mollifying the hecklers, USC should reverse its decision and recommit to the protection of academic speech and intellectual thought, uncomfortable and challenging as it may be."
Guzman, in his campus message, said the uproar over the valedictorian selection had taken on "an alarming tenor."
"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," Guzman wrote. "We cannot ignore the fact that similar risks have led to harassment and even violence at other campuses.
"As always, and particularly when tensions are running so high across the world, we must prioritize the safety of our community," he said. "And as we do every year, we have been monitoring our commencement security needs based on all the information we have and the facts on the ground. Our (Department of Public Safety) and expert campus safety team are uniquely prepared to evaluate potential threats, and we have consulted with them about the current situation, taking into account everything we know about our reality, as well as the unprecedented risks we are seeing at other campuses and across the world. We are resolute in our commitment to maintain and prioritize the existing safety and well-being of our USC community during the coming weeks, and allowing those attending commencement to focus on the celebration our graduates deserve."